Report: Florida Hiring Rutgers A Star Player in Off-Field Role
Florida’s Gainsville — Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reports that Florida is poised to appoint Rutgers player development staffer Jeremy Patterson as the Gators’ assistant defensive line coach in an off-field, graduate assistant role.
Public knowledge about Patterson’s coaching background prior to his affiliation with Rutgers is minimal. He played an off-field position for the Scarlet Knights during the 2023 season, but his profile has since been taken down from the program’s website.
Prior to becoming a member of the Rutgers support staff, Patterson was a collegiate football player at Wisconsin (2014–16) and Tennessee State (2017–18). During his four games with the Badgers, he did not record any stats; but, in his eighteen games with the Tigers, six of which he started, he racked up 17 tackles with 2.5 for loss.
A former unanimous three-star prospect from the 2014 recruiting class, Patterson attended Wayne County High School in Jesup, Georgia, to begin his playing career in the southeast.
With Patterson’s hiring, Florida will have a new assistant defensive line coach in place of Kali James Jr., a former UF graduate who was promoted to assistant defensive line coach in Gainesville this offseason before choosing Jackson State’s on-field post in February.
After Sean Spencer, the former defensive line coach of the Gators, was fired after the 2023 season, head coach Billy Napier revealed that James had completed the recruiting duties that were left unfilled to end the 2024 cycle. For his efforts, James was given the previously indicated promotion, yet he stayed off the field.
We gave Kali James a promotion. He will assist us with the hybrid players. He is a graduate assistant and functions somewhat as an assistant defensive line coach,” Napier stated on February 7.
Assuming those responsibilities, Patterson will report to Gerald Chatman, the new defensive line coach for the Gators, whom Florida hired in December 2023 after he was hired by Tulane.
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