Florida football coaching staff tracker: Who is joining Jon Sumrall

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The new coaching staff for Florida football coach Jon Sumrall is starting to take shape.

The 43-year-old Sumrall is continuing to coach Tulane as the Green Wave qualified for the College Football Playoff as the 11th seed and will face six-seed Ole Miss on Saturday, Dec. 20 (3:30 p.m., TNT).

Sumrall made it clear during his opening press conference that staff decisions for the Florida Gators won't be made solely on personal relationships, but on what fits best for the task at hand.

"I don't hire a staff off of who are my buddies," Sumrall said. "I hire a staff based upon what is the absolute best group of people we can put together to serve and develop our players and win championships at that place."

Sumrall received a budget of $16.45 million to hire coaches on offense, defense and special teams that could best put UF in position to compete against a challenging SEC schedule.

Here's a look at the staff movement for the Gators since Sumrall was hired on Sunday, Nov. 30:

Gerald Chatman staying as Florida football DL coach

Florida is keeping Gerald Chatman as its defensive line coach, according to multiple reports. Chatman worked briefly for Sumrall at Tulane before being hired by Florida in 2023 to replace Sean Spencer.

Under Chatman, Florida's defensive line spurred a defense that averaged 2.17 sacks per game (ninth in the SEC) and 17 takeaways (tied for sixth in the SEC).

Chatman, who interviewed for the Chicago Bears defensive line coaching position last year, is set to make $850,000 this upcoming season, per terms of his contract.

Florida football RB coach Jabbar Juluke being pursued by Kentucky

Florida running backs coach Jabbar Juluke is reportedly being targeted by Kentucky to become its next running backs coach, according to a report from Matt Zenitz of 247Sports,com.

Under Juluke's guidance, Florida running back Jadan Baugh enjoyed a breakout sophomore season, finishing third in the SEC in rushing with 1,170 yards and 8 TDs. But Juluke also was suspended for three games during the 2025 for striking a player during a pregame brawl with LSU on Sept. 13.

Florida football WR coach Billy Gonzales not returning

Florida wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales is not returning to UF, according to On3's Pete Nakos.

Gonzales served as interim coach for UF when Billy Napier was fired on Oct. 19 and was 1-4, with the lone win coming against rival FSU, 40-21, on Saturday, Nov. 29.

Florida football set to hire Buster Faulkner as offensive coordinator

Florida football is set to hire Buster Faulkner as its new offensive coordinator, according to a report from ESPN.com's Pete Thamel.

Under Faulkner, Georgia Tech's offense ranks 12th nationally and second in the ACC this season, averaging 466.3 yards per game.

Florida football hires Brad White as defensive coordinator

Florida football has hired Kentucky's Brad White as its new defensive coordinator. White was the defensive coordinator at UK from 2019-25 and worked with Sumrall from 2019-21 when Sumrall was Kentucky's linebackers coach.

Under White, Kentucky's defense ranked 20th nationally in 2019 (322.2 ypg), 25th nationally in 2021 (340.7) and 12th nationally in 2022 (311.4 ypg). White became available when Kentucky fired head coach Mark Stoops on Nov. 30, replacing him with Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.

Florida football hired Dave Caldwell at General Manager

Florida has hired Dave Caldwell as its new general manager. The 51-year-old Caldwell brings NFL experience as the former GM of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2013-20 and former personnel executive with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2021-25.

Caldwell and Sumrall will work collaboratively on recruiting, transfer portal and staff decisions.

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Tracking Florida football coaching staff under new coach Jon Sumrall

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