The other side of the NFL Draft coin; Gators coaches were well represented
by Bob Redman, aka “Hollywood Bob”
Gator fans are usually happy to see former Gators football players get a chance at playing professionally and getting drafted or signed by NFL teams when their final season of eligibility is up at Florida. But there were some others that were equally happy for players at other schools that saw their opportunity arise over the last several days. It was actually impressive to see what the new coaching staff at Florida was able to do with the players they coached up at their last stops. Almost all of them had reason to celebrate and that bodes well for the young men they will be coaching in the orange and blue moving forward.
It was a varying array of talent and a group that matured into men that will be fighting for roster spots at the highest level of football this year. It’s a mixture of highly rated high school prospects and those that weren’t expected to do much out of high school. In the end they were all put into a position to succeed in the eyes of NFL scouts. Among the group that were drafted or picked up as free agents included a five-star, a couple of four-stars, a quartet of three-stars, and also a trio of two-star prospects.
Given that five-star prospects aren’t automatic to end up with NFL teams, this staff put in the work to get this bunch where they ended up. Here is what the staff was able to mold into 2021 pro prospects.
Cornerback Coach Corey Raymond (at LSU in 2012-2021) Raymond is known as one of the best, if not the best cornerback coach in the country and that is with his coaching style and his recruiting prowess. Raymond has had countless players he has coached move on to be pros and several high draft picks. This week he saw cornerback Derek Stingley drafted in the first round by the Houston Texans after coaching the former five-star prospect up to two All-American seasons as a freshman and sophomore with the Tigers and before he had to miss most of last season due to injury.
Wide Receiver Coach Keary Colbert (Coached WR at USC from 2019-2021) For the last three seasons Colbert coached Drake London, a former four-star prospect that became a first round pick of the Atlanta Falcons in this week’s NFL Draft. London was named to several All-American teams following the season and was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award and Maxwell Award. He was also the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year. London had 160 career receptions (17th on USC’s career list) for 2,153 yards (16th on USC’s all-time chart) for a 13.5 average per catch with 15 TDs. He has 9 career 100-yard receiving games. He is the only Trojan ever to twice have 15 or more catches in a game. He had a reception in 21 consecutive games, dating to 2019.
Outside Linebacker Coach Mike Peterson (Coached LB at South Carolina from 2017-2021) In 2021 Peterson coached Kingsley Enagbare, a fifth-round selection of the Green Bay Packers this week. The former four-star prospect had a terrific senior season and was a first-team All-SEC and a third-team All-American selection by Pro Football Focus while earning second team All-SEC accolades from Phil Steele and a Chuck Bednarik Award semifinalist. Enagbare recorded 44 tackles, including a team-high 7.0 tackles-for-loss and a team-best 4.5 sacks. He registered 11 of the squad’s 34 quarterback hurries on the season.
Tight End Coach William Peagler (Coached RB at Michigan State 2020-2021) Peagler earned national running back coach of the year honors from CoachingScoop.com in his second year with the Spartans. He was responsible for recruiting sensational running back Kenneth Walker from Wake Forest where he ran for just over 500 yards in 2020. Walker went on to be one of the more prolific runners in college football history in 2021 winning the Doak Walker Award, the Walter Camp National Player of the Year, Big-Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Year, and was a consensus All-American at his position. Walker is a former three-star prospect and was the second round selection of the Seattle Seahawks. He finished last season with 1,636 yards and 18 TDs on the way to all of the awards.
Defensive Coordinator and Safeties Coach Patrick Toney (Coached LB/ Saf at Louisiana-Lafayette 2018-2021) Toney coached linebackers and was the defensive coordinator at ULL last year, but coached the safeties with DC duties before that. Toney watched this weekend as safety Percy Butler became a fourth round pick of the Washington Commanders. The former two-star prospect was second-team All-Sun Belt in 2021 and made the conference honorable mention list in 2020.
Toney did coach the linebackers along with his coordinator duties in 2021 and saw two of the players he coached from last season sign undrafted free agent contract with different teams. Linebacker Ferrod Gardner signed on with the Washington Commanders. The former two-star prospect was an honorable mention all-conference player in both of his last two seasons. Linebacker Chauncey Manac signed on with the Green Bay Packers. A three-star prospect in high school, Manac earned second-team all-conference honors in 2021.
Asst. Offensive Line Coach Darnell Stapleton (Coached OL at ULL last season) Stapleton took over for fellow Florida assistant, offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Rob Sale who left before the 2021 season to coach with the New York Giants. Both of them coached up Max Mitchell, a fourth-round selection of the New York Jets. The former two-star prospect was named to the 2021 first team all-conference team in the Sun Belt and was a Walter Camp Second Team All-American as well as various other high profile All-American teams. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Mitchell allowed just 13 pressures in 859 snaps at right tackle. As a result, he was tabbed as the highest-graded tackle in the nation per PFF and was named the PFF Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year.
Head Coach/ Quarterback Coach Billy Napier (Coached Louisiana-Lafayette 2018-2021) There have been naysayers about Napier being the head coach, the offensive coordinator, and the quarterback coach along with calling plays on Saturdays. But it’s hard to argue the success he had at ULL with former three-star signal caller Levi Lewis. While Lewis wasn’t drafted this week, but he did sign an unsigned free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks quickly after the draft was over. Lewis was a second team All-Sun Belt selection in each of the last two seasons with the Ragin’ Cajuns. He finished his career with the most passing touchdowns (74) and second most passing yards (9,203) in program history. Lewis ended his collegiate tenure with a 35-7 record as the starting quarterback for the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Florida running back coach Jabbar Juluke had all underclassmen at ULL and none were eligible for the draft. Inside linebacker coach Jay Bateman coached safeties at North Carolina in 2021 and the lone senior maintained his eligibility and transferred after the season. Florida defensive line coach Sean Spencer coached with the New York Giants the last two seasons so he also was exempt from this list.