Billy Napier talks relationship with Corey Raymond, impact of hire

One of the biggest wins of Billy Napier’s young tenure at Florida was the hire of former LSU defensive backs coach Corey Raymond. Raymond was the longest-tenured staff member in Baton Rouge and it was a statement hire for the former Louisiana skipper.

Napier has had a high opinion of Raymond for a long time, so it was an easy decision to go after him when he got the reins for the Gators.

“We were very familiar with each other, right? We competed against each other. I have always been very impressed with him from a teaching perspective,” Napier said. “I used to watch him in pregame- his drill progression, the detail, the technique that his players played with.” 

Corey Raymond’s track record of success is immense. He produced 14 NFL Draft picks, including three first round picks. Ten of those 14 have started games in the NFL and three have made a Pro Bowl appearance.

“This is one of those hires where you’re hiring a true expert in his area and he’s already made an impact on our team and recruiting,” Napier said. 

As a recruiter for Florida, Raymond has already helped land four-star safety Kamari Wilson and four-star cornerback Devin Moore.

Napier discusses Florida staff revamp

Billy Napier hasn’t made the changes to Florida’s staff just for the sake of making changes. He understands that getting the right people in place out of the gate is the key to building a successful college football program. The new Gators coach also knows that the work is far from over.

“I could probably tell you how many we have left to hire,” Napier said when asked if he knew off the top of his head how many people he’s hired to Florida’s coaching staff. “Probably more than we’ve hired. I know that we’ve tried to be intentional about building this the right way. I don’t know the number off the top of my head. We still have work. There’s work left to do here.

“We’ve tried to be really patient and thorough. A lot goes into this. It’s the most important thing that we do. So I think if you get it right in the front end, then there are fewer issues going forward. So that’s what we’re trying to do.

“I’m really excited about the caliber of person that we’ve been able to attract here. Not only their character and integrity, but also their expertise in the area that we’re asking them to do work with, the team and the organization. And then obviously there’s the recruiting strategy and footprint is a big part of that as well. So each one of these is a big deal I think. There’s a lot of people that contribute your success in college football. I think we understand that.”

On3’s Jonathan Wagner contributed to this report.