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Florida RB coach Jabbar Juluke agrees to contract extension

On3 imageby:Keith Niebuhr•about 9 hours•

On3Keith

Florida-Gators-Jabbar-Juluke
Florida Gators associate head coach for running backs Jabbar Juluke celebrates after a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. (Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images)

Florida Gators running backs coach Jabbar Juluke has agreed to terms to a two-year contract extension with the program, Gators Online has learned. His current contract is set to expire Jan. 31.

Juluke has been an extremely valuable assistant for head coach Billy Napier.

He was named a 2024 Broyles Award nominee, awarded annually to the best assistant coach in college football. That recognition wasn’t a surprise to Florida players and coaches. To them, Juluke has produced in every facet, from recruiting, to development to production. Meanwhile, Juluke interviewed for FIU’s then-open head coaching position late last year, further proof of his standing.

“What I would say about Jabbar — he has the unique ability to get the most out of people,” Napier told Gators Online in December.

The Gators’ Jabbar Juluke has had great success with the RBs

Florida finished the 2024 season averaging 161 yards rushing per game. Despite having multiple backs miss time with injuries, three Gators had more than 500 rushing yards — freshman Jadan Baugh (673), senior Montrell Johnson (593) and junior Ja’Kobi Jackson (509). Florida rushed for 4.5 yards a carry as a team in 2024, up from 4.3 in 2023.

Meanwhile, Florida’s running backs recruiting under Napier and Juluke has been on point. It has included a mix of 4-stars (Baugh, Treyaun Webb and KD Daniels), a 3-star transfers (Johnson), relative unknowns (Jackson) and valuable walk-ons (Anthony Rubio). Several key players are expected to return in 2025. Not only that, but Juluke and the Gators just signed three backs in the 2025 class, including 4-stars Byron Louis and Waltez Clark.

“We work as a team to pick the players; he coaches them,” Napier said of Juluke. “He’s done a good job kind of weeding through all that — picking good people. That’s part of the equation. And obviously the track record of the system producing at running back. I just think it’s part of our DNA. Running backs are a critical piece of the puzzle. Got to have balance at that position and he’s the leader of that group.”

Napier and Juluke go back several years. When Napier was a graduate assistant at Clemson two decades ago, they met when Juluke was head coach at New Orleans (La.) Edna Karr. In 2018, Napier hired Juluke away from Texas Tech to be running backs coach at Louisiana. Juluke then followed Napier to Gainesville four years later.

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