Mike Elko’s defensive coordinator in his

This offseason, the “Godfather” of Gainesville’s current defensive system made an official visit to campus. After linebackers coach Jay Bateman left to become the defensive coordinator for Texas A&M during Mike Elko’s first season in command at College Station, Florida searched the market for a suitable replacement. Prominent figures such as George Helow, Chris Partridge, Mark Ivey, Jamar Chaney, and DJ Durkin surfaced as potential successors. However, none of those seasoned helpers were selected.
Rather, Napier chose to go the traditional way, as he has done many times while attending UF. Ron Roberts, a former defensive coordinator for Auburn who worked with Napier and Co. at Louisiana-Lafayette from 2018 to 2019, was enticed by the Gators to take on the roles of executive head coach and co-defensive coordinator in order to oversee Florida’s inside linebackers unit. On Wednesday, Napier praised Roberts’ more than 30-year career and shared his thoughts on the reunification and how it gives Florida’s defensive players, especially defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong, a luxury.
Regarding the addition, Napier said, “It’s incredible. “You think about Ron Roberts and what he brings to the table: veteran coach, been a head coach, been a coordinator and a play-caller.”We went, and we were able to reassign one of the nation’s top defensive coordinators to our staff.” Roberts has never set foot in Gainesville as a coach, yet his influence can be seen throughout the University of Florida’s current operations.
He is credited with creating the current defensive plan that the team uses, which was taught to Patrick Toney, the Gators’ coordinator in 2022, and Armstrong, the team’s coordinator in 2023, while both were employed by Roberts at UL. “I think it’s a positive because the system that we run, Ron started that system at Louisiana,” Napier said. The initial two years we spent there were spent sort of setting things up. The guys currently in charge of it used to work for him, but it has since changed. Thus, I wonder if Austin or Patrick Toney—who took over and is currently with the National Football League—was involved. Call him what you will—the Godfather, the original—but he goes by many names. He returns to us in the

Robbie Roberts is well respected for his three years at Baylor, where he helped the Bears win the Big 12 Conference and the Sugar Bowl in 2021. His team led the conference in interceptions, turnover margin, forced turnovers, and defensive touchdowns. After leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC in 2023, he carried over part of the success, helping Auburn finish in the top 50 nationally in terms of total defense, scoring defense, sacks, and tackles-for-loss despite Hugh Freeze’s first season being hit and miss. Thus, as he filled in the gaps in on-field assistant responsibilities for the second consecutive summer, Napier saw value in Roberts’ desire to go to Florida this offseason.
Returning to collaborate closely with his mentee, Armstrong, the experienced assistant offers another trustworthy source of advice and insight as the team tries to make sense of the defensive mistakes that have bedeviled the unit in recent times. The fact that Roberts is referred to as executive defensive head coach, or simply “head coach of the defense,” highlights the extent of his assistance to Armstrong with game-planning, installation, and other weekly procedures that guarantee a flawless performance on gameday. Although Roberts brings respect and expertise to the defensive side of the ball, Armstrong will still be at the top of the hierarchy, and this could relieve some of the pressure on the 30-year-old to call plays efficiently. “There’s a mentor-type relationship there between Austin and him,” Napier said. “And a whole lot of

I believe we arrive to the wisdom out of respect, reciprocal respect on both sides.”In short, a guy who manages that side of the ball in some capacity. Austin leads the unit meetings, calls plays, and is the coordinator, of course, but we also get a man who can coach the coaches, enhance the gameplans and installation, and basically get the best players on that side of the ball. He serves as the defense’s head coach in part, and in my opinion, the coordinator-player dynamic there is one in which both players are ball guys because they’re enjoying their lives at the moment. Florida is ranked No. 75 (27.58 points per game allowed) and No. 69 (382.2 yards per game allowed) among FBS institutions in terms of total defense.

score defense and ranked No. 102 in red zone defense the previous season — will mostly dependent on Roberts to assist ease the transition for one of the youngest play-callers in the Power Five conference as he approaches the staff’s prove-it year in 2024. Napier’s assurance implies that he thinks Roberts might be the key to the Gators’ much-needed defensive comeback the following year. “Both the players he coaches and the teams he coaches have consistently produced results. He has a history of playing excellent defense, so we’re lucky to have him.”