Jon Sumrall reportedly decides on status of Florida interim HC Billy Gonzales, other assistants
By Andrew Olson
Published:
It’s a busy Monday for new Florida head coach Jon Sumrall as he works on assembling his first UF staff. After hiring his coordinators, Sumrall has shifted his focus to deciding on which current assistants to retain.
Reports out of Gainesville are that 3 on-field assistants have already learned that they are not being retained. According to On3, wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales, who served as the interim head coach after Billy Napier‘s dismissal, running backs coach Jabbar Juluke and offensive line coach Rob Sale will not be back for 2026.
Juluke and Sale were with the Gators throughout Napier’s tenure. Gonzales was not initially retained when Napier succeeded Dan Mullen, but was brought back ahead of the 2023 season after spending 2022 at Florida Atlantic. As UF’s interim head coach, Gonzales went 1-4.
Sumrall has reportedly elected to retain Florida defensive line coach Gerald Chatman. Chatman previously coached at Tulane, but before Sumrall took over as head coach of the Green Wave. Chatman has been with the Gators for 2 seasons.
So far, Sumrall has tabbed a new defensive coordinator in Brad White, formerly of Kentucky. Sumrall is reportedly bringing on Buster Faulkner from Georgia Tech as Florida’s new offensive coordinator, though the hire has not yet been officially announced by UF as of publishing time Monday afternoon.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
