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Billy Napier adding Russ Calloway to his Gators football staff

Untitled designby:Nick de la Torre•02/27/22•

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Florida coach Billy Napier. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)

The Florida Gators are adding Russ Calloway to their football staff, according to a report from On3 Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

Calloway joined the New York Giants in April of 2021 as an offensive assistant. Prior to his one season in New York Calloway was a senior offensive analyst at LSU.

Calloway got his first opportunity to call plays at Samford. He served five seasons as the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator. While there he coached Devlin Hodges In 2018. Hodges earned the Walter Payton Award for the top offensive player in all of FCS football.

That season, Hodges set a school record with 4,283 yards. The three-time SoCon Offensive Player of the Year and All-American passed for an FCS-record 14,584. That broke the old record set by Steve McNair.

Calloway played quarterback at Valdosta State. Injury cut his playing career short but finished his degree and began his coaching career there. Shortly after that, he joined Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide as a defensive analyst. While Calloway was there the Tide won back-to-back National Championships.

He transitioned to an on-field role with Murray State. There he worked with the wide receivers, while also serving as the recruiting coordinator.

Calloway Joins the Gator Army

Calloway is the 54th announced hire by Napier. The Gators currently have 58 staff members with four additional staffers in Florida’s football video department.

With the on-field staff already in place, it’s unclear what role Calloway will serve. However, he has experience working on both sides of the ball as an analyst and also playing experience as a quarterback.

Sean Spencer (co-defensive coordinator/defensive line), Patrick Toney (co-defensive coordinator/safeties), Corey Raymond (cornerbacks), Mike Peterson (outside linebackers) and Jay Bateman (inside linebackers) are the defensive coaches on staff.

Rob Sale (offensive coordinator/offensive line), Jabbar Juluke (running backs), Darnell Stapleton (offensive line), Keary Colbert (receivers) and William Peagler (tight ends) round out the coaching staff.

A pair of analysts who will assist the on-field coaches are Ryan O’Hara (quarterbacks – Napier) and Jamar Chaney (linebackers – Bateman, Peterson).

Additionally, Napier has tapped Mark Hocke to run the strength and conditioning program. Hocke is joined by Joe Danos, Karmichael Dunbar, Tiger Jones, Edward Thompson, and Alex Watkins.

“We’re going to hire an army of people here. We’re going to create an infrastructure. Not only in the personnel department but also from on-campus recruiting, creative media, name, image, and likeness. We’ve got a great vision for the organization that we’re going to create here.” Napier said during his introductory press conference.

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