Explaining how Florida will handle departure of Craig Fitzgerald

Billy Napier hired Craig Fitzgerald to be Florida‘s strength coach in late December. By mid February, he has taken the same job to work for his former boss, Bill O’Brien at Boston College.

Gators Online’s Nick De la Torre joined On3’s Andy Staples to discuss the fallout from Fitzgerald’s abrupt departure, and how he expects Florida to handle the gap in its staff in the meantime.

“Mark Hocke is still on campus in a role. He knows what’s going on,” De la Torre told Staples. “But from what I’ve been told, it’s going to be Tyler Miles, who is the director of player athletic development. He joined the team last year. He was a guy that the players even lobbied for to get the job before Craig Fitzgerald was hired, and he will lead the team through this second phase of the offseason that Billy Napier likes to call the identity phase.

“It remains to be seen — does Florida just stick with the guys they have? Do they go and find somebody else? That relationship dynamic of strength coaches and head coaches still remains.”

Fitzgerald and Boston College head coach Bill O’Brien date back years, and Billy Napier even acknowledged that coaching is an industry built on relationship.

Him and O’Brien first began working together at Maryland. Fitzgerald followed him to Penn State, where he was named Director of Strength and Conditioning and did the same at Houston. In turn, it led to him getting poached by the Eagles for O’Brien’s initial coaching staff.

“Now, you’re less than a month away from spring football for a lot of these programs,” De la Torre said. As angry as Florida fans were at Craig Fitzgerald for leaving when he did, it’s going to be probably hard for Billy to find another guy to poach who is you qualified are worthy to be Florida strength coach.”

Whether you agree with Fitzgerald’s decision or not, Florida is still going to have to move forward without one of the most acclaimed coaches in their respective roles in the country and in the end, will likely be just fine. During a time like now — the first stages of the offseason — the need to have a steady strength and conditioning program can’t be understated, and Napier will look to clean up his staff accordingly.

The Gators kick their 2024 college football season off against on Aug. 31 at home inside The Swamp against in-state rival Miami.