Ricky Pearsall, Chimere Dike credit Gators GA David Doeker for their elevated play

Ricky Pearsall’s play rose to another level in Gainesville after transferring to Arizona State. While receivers coaches Billy Gonzales (2023) and Keary Colbert (2022) obviously had a role in that development, they had help — and it came from graduate assistant David Doeker, affectionally known by players and co-workers as “Deck.”

“It was actually night and day,” Pearsall said of his development. “My game elevated immediately when I got in that room (at Florida) and I continued to see long-term growth the longer I was there. Deck was a huge part of that for me.”

Doeker, 28, is a native of Shreveport, La., who played receiver at Louisiana from 2015-17, was a student assistant at LSU in 2018 and worked under Billy Napier at Louisiana as quality control coach after that. When Napier left for Florida, Doeker went with him.

“I know the players respect him and appreciate how hard he’s working,” Napier said in 2023. “Couldn’t be more proud of Doeker, and Doeker’s got a bright future in front of him.”

David Doeker has been named a coach of note under the age of 30

Inside the Florida Gators’ football building and out of it, David Doeker’s reputation is growing. During the period after Colbert left the program in 2023 and before Gonzales was hired to replace him, Napier made Doeker interim receivers coach. That same year, he was named to the 30 Under 30 Class of ’23 by Our Coaching Network.

“I feel like the assistant receivers coach is definitely overlooked,” Gators receiver Eugene Wilson III said last August. “He has a big role, especially in our room. Not only just getting us aligned, but keeping our head straight, making sure to keep our head up and helping us as route runners.” 

Pearsall had been a good receiver at Arizona State, his previous stop. But he became a great one after transferring to Florida.In Pearsall’s third and final season at Arizona State, he caught 48 passes for 580 yards, for a 12.1 average. But at Florida, his career took off. He had 33 catches for 661 yards (20.0 yards per catch) during Year 1 in Gainesville. Pearsall was even more impressive in 2023, when he recorded 65 receptions for 965 yards and four touchdowns. One of those catches was his memorable one-handed grab vs. Charlotte.

After a breakout final season at UF, Ricky Pearsall was a 1st-round draft pick

“I think right away it was the fact that (Doeker) believed in me and cared about my success, which carries a huge load toward my success,” Pearsall said. “Definitely one of my favorite things is that we were so high on the actual technique of what it takes to get open as a receiver. We watched countless hours of film on it and even more hours doing it on the field. Now, as far as the knowledge side David took my game to an entirely different level with that. Even when we weren’t in the same state the person I contacted to go over coverages and scheme was Deck and there were countless Zoom (calls) of that.”

Last year, Pearsall went 31st overall in the NFL Draft. He finished his rookie season with 31 catches for 400 yards for San Francisco. How big of an impact did Doeker have on him becoming a first-rounder?

“Honestly, this is tied for one of the first things that stuck in my head when I was thinking about answering some of these questions about Deck,” Pearsall said. “I give him a lot of that credit because a part of my game I wanted to grow and show the scouts/ coaches was how knowledgeable I was of the game. There are a ton of meetings with these teams and I always spoke confidently in them because of the work that Deck and I put in during the process. We had a set schedule of hopping on Zoom twice a week to go over different areas of the game.

And it definitely paid off when the film would pop up and we watched it so much that I was telling them the plays before it even played out. This impressed a lot of the coaches and I truly believe it boosted my stock knowing how detailed I became. (Doeker) was a great part of my success.”

Chimere Dike said David Doeker helped his game grow at Florida

After four seasons at Wisconsin, receiver Chimere Dike entered the transfer portal last offseason in hopes of finding the perfect fit for his final season of college. At Florida, that objective was met. And he give Doeker much of the credit.

“Coach Deck was the one that picked me up on a recruiting visit,” Dike said. “I got close to him through that. In those first meetings you could tell he knows football — you can tell his knowledge and hunger for the game. And I think that kind of is what ultimately took over and helped started our relationship.”

From there, the connection quickly grew. On and off the field.

Dike had 97 catches for 1,478 yards for the Badgers but his production had dipped from 47 receptions to 19 from 2022 to 2023. With Florida, he had a major impact. Dike produced arguably his best season in college last year with 42 catches for 783 yards. He averaged 18.6 yards per catch — a full 3 yards better than his career numbers when he transferred.

“(Doeker) spent so much time with me. You know, going over technique,” Dike said. “I think that all the receiver coaches — Coach Gonzalez obviously, Coach (Chad) Lucas and Deck do a great job of balancing each other out and providing different perspectives that our receiver room and our team really benefit from.”

According to Dike, he played his best football in 2024. And there is one specific area in which his game grew the most.

“I think top-of-route stuff,” Dike said. “That’s something that Coach G and Deck both emphasized whenever we were running our routes and in all the drill work. I think that he did a really good job kind of helping me with that and understanding releases. I came with some experience and had a base, but I think they helped me take that to the next level.”

Doeker will be entering his fourth season with the Gators in 2025

To Dike, David Doeker has a bright future in coaching. He’s a believer in him and he is not alone. So is Pearsall. So is Wilson. And, so is Napier.

“One-hundred percent,” Dike said. “I told Deck during season — I was like, ‘You know, I can’t wait for you to have that opportunity and be a big-time coach and get that job.’ And you know, he’s still super young and he’s got a lot of football ahead of him, which is the best part. He’s super knowledgeable. He cares about his players. He’s continually trying to grow and you’ve seen the kind of players that he’s helped impact.”