Current position | |
---|---|
Title | Wide receivers coach |
Team | Florida |
Conference | SEC |
Biographical details | |
Born | Thornton, Colorado, U.S. | July 18, 1971
Playing career | |
1989–1992 | Colorado State |
Position(s) | Wide receiver |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1994 | MacMurray (WR) |
1995–2001 | Kent State (WR/RB) |
2001–2002 | Bowling Green (WR) |
2003–2004 | Utah (STC/WR) |
2005–2007 | Florida (WR) |
2008–2009 | Florida (RC/WR) |
2010–2011 | LSU (PGC/WR) |
2012 | Illinois (co-OC/WR) |
2013 | Mississippi State (WR) |
2014–2017 | Mississippi State (co-OC/WR) |
2018–2019 | Florida (co-OC/WR) |
2020–2021 | Florida (PGC/WR) |
2022 | Florida Atlantic (WR) |
2023–present | Florida (WR) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
| |
Billy Gonzales (born July 18, 1971) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the wide receivers coach for the Florida Gators. He played wide receiver for Colorado State from 1990 to 1994.
In 1989, he joined the Colorado State football team. He played for former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce. While he was there, he was mainly a returner, returning 24 punts for 265 yards in 1990 and 16 punts for 330 yards in 1991. [1]
After his playing career, he started his coaching career at small Division-III MacMurray as their wide receivers coach, which he has coached his entire career. He moved on to Kent State in the same role.
He stayed in the Mid-American Conference for his next role at Bowling Green under Urban Meyer, where he met Dan Mullen and John Hevesy, two assistant coaches who Gonzales would coach with many times throughout his career. [2] He moved on to Utah in 2003 with Meyer, Mullen, and Hevesy. He moved with them again to Florida in 2005. After three years as the wide receivers coach, he was promoted to recruiting coordinator in 2008.
He moved on from Florida in 2010 to serve as LSU's passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach under Les Miles. Under his guidance, Rueben Randle had 53 catches for 917 yards in 2011. [3]
In 2012, he became the co-offensive coordinator at Illinois. His offense was an abysmal 122nd out of 124th in total offense, which led to him leaving for Mississippi State, reuniting with Mullen and Hevesy. [4] He was promoted to co-offensive coordinator prior to the 2014. His offense was 17th, 33rd, 56th, and 41st in total offense from 2014–2017. He went with Mullen and Hevesy to Florida in 2018 in the same role. [5]
In 2022, after Florida head coach Dan Mullen was fired, Gonzales joined Willie Taggart's staff at FAU as a wide receivers coach. He returned to Florida before the 2023 season. [6]
Urban Frank Meyer III is an American sportscaster and former college football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons from 2001 to 2002, the Utah Utes from 2003 to 2004, the Florida Gators from 2005 to 2010, and the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2012 to 2018. He retired from coaching in 2019 at the end of the Rose Bowl, and stayed at Ohio State as an assistant athletic director and was also an analyst for Fox Sports, appearing weekly on their Big Noon Kickoff pregame show. In 2021, Meyer came out of retirement to take his first National Football League (NFL) job as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, but was fired 13 games into his first and only season, after going 2–11 and being involved in both on- and off-field controversies. He then went back to Fox Sports to resume his broadcasting career.
Christopher Patrick Leak is an American football coach and former gridiron football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Florida, and led the Florida Gators to victory in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game. Leak played professionally for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL), the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and the Jacksonville Sharks and Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League (AFL).
The 2006 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2006 college football season. The Gators competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The season was the second for head coach Urban Meyer, who led the Gators to an SEC Championship, a BCS National Championship, and an overall win–loss record of 13–1 (.929). Their one loss coming from an upset by the Auburn Tigers.
Joe "Joker" Phillips Jr. is an American football coach and former player. He is the assistant head football coach and wide receivers coach at North Carolina State University, a position he has held since the 2021 season. Phillips served as the head football coach at the University of Kentucky from 2010 to 2012.
The 2005 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2005 college football season. The Gators competed in Division I-A of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The season was the team's first of six under head coach Urban Meyer, who led the Gators to an Outback Bowl berth and an overall win–loss record of 9–3 (.750).
The 2007 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gators competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. It was the third season for head coach Urban Meyer, who led the Gators to a Capital One Bowl berth and an overall win–loss record of 9–4 (.692).
Daniel Mullen is an American former college football player and coach, and current television analyst with ABC and ESPN. He served as the head football coach at Mississippi State University from 2009 to 2017 and the University of Florida from 2018 until 2021.
The 2007 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They won the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference before falling to the eventual national champion LSU Tigers in the SEC Championship Game. The Vols capped off the season by defeating the Wisconsin Badgers in the Outback Bowl to finish with a record of 10–4.
The 2008 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gators competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and played their home games in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida, campus. They were led by fourth-year head coach Urban Meyer.
Ernest Lee Mills, III is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Florida Gators.
The 1996 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The 1996 season was the team's seventh under head coach Steve Spurrier. The Gators competed in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and played their home games at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus.
Darrin Earl Chiaverini is an American college football coach and former wide receiver. He is the head football coach for Northeastern State University, a position he has held since 2024. He played college football at Colorado. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1999 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns.
The 2009 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Mississippi State has been a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) since the league's inception in 1932, and has participated in that conference's Western Division since 1992. The Bulldogs played their home games in 2009 at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field in Starkville, Mississippi, which has been MSU football's home stadium since 1914.
Brian Delance Johnson is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the assistant head coach and offensive pass game coordinator for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He has been an offensive coordinator for the NCAA's Utah Utes, Houston Cougars, and Florida Gators and the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. Johnson played college football at Utah and was briefly a member of the United Football League's (UFL) New York Sentinels in 2009.
Zach Azzanni is an American football coach who is the wide receivers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Azzanni, who enters his 23rd season coaching wide receivers, previously coached with the Denver Broncos and spent the 2017 season with the Chicago Bears following 18 years at the college level.
The history of Florida Gators football began in 1906, when the newly established "University of the State of Florida" fielded a football team during its first full academic year of existence. The school's name was shortened to the University of Florida in 1908, and the football team gained the nickname "Gators" in 1911. The program started small, usually playing six to eight games per season against small colleges and local athletic club teams in north Florida and south Georgia. The Orange and Blue developed early rivalries with the Stetson Hatters from nearby Deland and Mercer Bears from Macon. During the 1910s, Florida began playing a wider range of opponents from more established football programs across the southeastern United States and faced off against several future rivals - such as Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, and Auburn - for the first time.
William Hall Napier is an American football coach currently serving as head coach at the University of Florida. From 2017 until 2021, he was head coach at the University of Louisiana, amassing a 40–12 record in four seasons with three consecutive 10+ win seasons and two seasons finishing in the AP Poll, both firsts in the program's history. Prior to Louisiana, he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona State University in 2017.
John Hevesy is an American football coach and former player. A Dan Mullen protégé, he had been a coach under him and with him since 2001. He was most recently the running game coordinator at Florida.
Travis Trickett is an American football coach who is currently the offensive coordinator at Coastal Carolina University. He is the former offensive coordinator at the University of South Florida. He has also coordinated offenses at Samford University, Florida Atlantic University, and Georgia State University.
Kevin Barbay is an American football coach and former player who was most recently the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for Houston.