One of the Tennessee Vols' main rivals received some bad news to start the weekend
One of the Tennessee Vols' main rivals started the weekend with some not-so-great news. According to multiple reports, the Florida Gators are losing co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney to the NFL. Toney, who followed Billy Napier from Louisiana to Gainesville, is joining the Arizona Cardinals as their secondary coach. That might seem like a lateral move […]
One of the Tennessee Vols' main rivals started the weekend with some not-so-great news.
According to multiple reports, the Florida Gators are losing co-defensive coordinator Patrick Toney to the NFL.
Toney, who followed Billy Napier from Louisiana to Gainesville, is joining the Arizona Cardinals as their secondary coach.
That might seem like a lateral move for Toney, but it's becoming increasingly common to see college assistants make lateral moves (or even moves that appear to be taking a step back) to the NFL so they don't have to deal with recruiting/the NCAA transfer portal.
Napier is hiring former Southern Miss defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong to replace Toney. Armstrong was just hired as Alabama's linebackers coach last month. He'll be the youngest defensive coordinator at the Power 5 level so this is obviously a big risk for Napier and the Gators.
Toney isn't the only assistant that Florida is losing to the Cardinals.
Tight ends coach William Peagler is also joining Arizona's staff.
Peagler is a former Clemson player who joined Napier's staff ahead of the 2022 season. He was previously with Napier at Louisiana in 2018.
Staff continuity is extremely important in college football. And while I'm sure Armstrong is a good coach, and I would expect Napier to make a good tight ends coach hire, it's still a challenge to bring in new assistants — especially just before spring practice starts.
One of the reasons Tennessee has experienced a high level of success early during the Josh Heupel era is because of their staff continuity (just two coaches have been replaced at UT in two seasons and both were replaced via internal hires).
It looks like Florida won't be able to enjoy that same level of continuity in the early years of Napier's tenure as the Gators' head coach. And that could cause Florida some problems as they try to keep pace in the SEC.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
