Billy Napier loses key member of Florida Gators' staff to NFL, raising question about player acqusition
Over the past few months, Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier has done a lot of work in shaping the way they construct the roster. The biggest addition they made was adding former Atlanta Falcons salary cap guru Nick Polk to be the program's football general manager to pair with Jacob LaFrance, who is the general […]
Over the past few months, Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier has done a lot of work in shaping the way they construct the roster. The biggest addition they made was adding former Atlanta Falcons salary cap guru Nick Polk to be the program's football general manager to pair with Jacob LaFrance, who is the general manager of personnel.
They lost one of their personnel staff on Monday, as Director of College Personnel Bird Sherrill is taking a job with the New York Jets.
Florida Gators lose Bird Sherrill to New York Jets
As Mark Long of the Associated Press stated, Sherrill was credited with the impressive transfer portal acqusitions the Gators have made. Of those since he got on campus ahead of the 2022 season is first-round pick Ricky Pearsall, fourth-round pick Chimere Dike, and fifth-round pick Cam Jackson.
The Gators losing him is a tough one, as the transfer portal has been a very calculated attack for the Gators, including the addition of safety Harold Stubbs IV on Monday. They haven't made it their priority, but adding selected players to fill holes has worked very well for Napier.
Now that Sherrill has left for the NFL, it shouldn't be much of a surprise. Sherrill spent six seasons with the Detroit Lions ahead of being hired by Napier where he was a member of the scouting staff.
The Gators will have to replace him, and they will have time to do so over the summer. Will that individual be as good as identifying the right transfer portal players to fortify the roster? No guarantees, as this could be a huge loss for Napier.
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