New UF coach Jon Sumrall retains Gators’ D-line coach Gerald Chatman
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GAINESVILLE — Florida football coach Jon Sumrall will retain Gerald Chatman to coach the Gators’ defensive line and renew a relationship established two years ago at Tulane.
Chatman’s hire, confirmed by the Orlando Sentinel, is Sumrall’s third since UF tabbed the 43-year-old to replace Billy Napier.
Chatman arrived at UF in December of 2023 from Tulane, where he briefly served under Sumrall after he replaced Willie Fritz earlier that month.
Chatman replaced Sean Spencer, who was fired after the the 2023 season, his second under Napier, and steadily improved the team’s interior line play.
Tackle Cam Jackson, in his second year after he transferred from Memphis, dropped weight and became a more consistent performer. He finished with 41 tackles, four of them for loss (1.5 sacks), up from 34 stops, including .5 tackles for loss and no sacks. Jackson earned a trip to the Senior Bowl was a drafted in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.
Under Chatman, Caleb Banks’ production also spiked. After managing just 1.5 tackles for loss, including one sack, in 2023, Banks registered seven TFLs, with 4.5 of them sacks in 2024. Banks missed all but three game in 2025 with a foot injury but was a force when he played and could make a case for first-round consideration at January’s Senior Bowl.
With Banks sidelined, redshirt sophomore Brendan Bett recorded 40 tackles, including three sacks, after sitting out 2024 at Baylor. In 2023, he had eight tackles, one of them sacks, for the Bears.
UF’s young defensive tackles also progressed under Chatman, none more than Michai Boireau. The sophomore nose tackle tallied 20 tackles, including two sacks, in nine games and made the game-winning interception during a 23-21 victory Oct. 18 against Mississippi State.
True freshman Jeremiah McCloud (13 tackles) and Joseph Mbatchou (11) each steadily improved.
“Them boys are dogs,” Banks said leading up to the Gators’ Nov. 29 win against Florida State. “It’s going to be a nice group of guys, for sure.”
Chatman interviewed with the Chicago Bears after the 2024 season to coach the defensive line but returned to the UF defensive line coach opening for $600,000 in 2025.
A native of Milwaukee, Chatman coached the 2023 season with Tulane after he served the previous spring as LSU’s interim defensive line coach. When Sumrall arrived, he aimed to keep Chatman on staff.
Chatman previously spent the ’22 season as Colorado’s defensive line coach and was elevated to defensive coordinator under interim head coach Mike Sanford following Karl Dorrell’s ouster in October ’22.
Chatman served as the defensive analyst at LSU in 2021 under Ed Orgeron, focusing on the defensive line. In ’19 and ’20, he was a defensive assistant with the Cincinnati Bengals. There he worked with some top veterans, including Geno Atkins, Sam Hubbard, Carl Lawson and Carlos Dunlap, a former Gators standout.
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
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