Florida Gators recruiting offers something few others can, and it’s simplicity resulted in a national championship

Phil Trautwein isn’t your standard college football offensive line coach.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Florida Gators offensive line coach Phil Trautwein talking about how important it was to return to his alma mater.
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When head coach Jon Sumrall began hiring his staff for the Florida Gators, his focus wasn’t on hiring friends. He wanted to hire the right people.

“I don’t hire my friends. Honestly, when I took my first head coaching job, I lost some friends maybe, or at least for a little while,” Sumrall said at his introductory press conference. “They were like, ‘I thought we were buddies.’ I’m like, ‘We are. That doesn’t mean you’re the right fit here.’

“I don’t hire a staff off of who are my buddies. I hire a staff based upon what is the absolute best group of people we can put together to serve and develop our players and win championships at that place. Every place is different.”

Phil Trautwein was the right hire for offensive line coach

One of the coaches that Sumrall sought out immediately was Penn State Nittany Lions offensive line coach Phil Trautwein. He had seven players drafted from his time at Penn State, and he started for Urban Meyer on the 2008 National Championship team at left tackle.

The fact that Trautwein played left tackle itself is a big enough advantage, but coaching where he played gives the Gators another leg up.

“For me as a coach, I always wanted to come back and coach where I played, and where I learned football, where I learned how to be a man,” said Trautwein in a press conference earlier this week. “And then being able to help young men through the same journey that I’ve been in. And so for the first time as a coach, I say like, ‘I’ve been in your shoes,’ because I’ve literally been in your shoes.”

Phil Trautwein uses his experience to help his players

It’s not just that Trautwein was a starting left tackle at Florida, it’s also about what he was as a player. Those teams under Meyer were loaded with insane athletes, a lot of whom made it to the NFL. One thing he didn’t have was elite athleticism, which can help his players see the bigger picture.

“Everybody in the room right now here is more talented than me, but I would outwork them with my technique and fundamentals and so as a coach, like, I have to direct them and show them and just talk real with them and tell them things I struggled with because as a coach I still don’t have all of the answers, but I’m willing to learn,” said Trautwein later in that same press conference. “I’m willing to grow, I have the growth mindset, so while I’m learning, they are hopefully learning and they understand through relationships what it takes, because I’ve been in their shoes, technique and fundamentals will always bring you home so making sure they understand that.”

It’s those elements where Trautwein is at his best as a coach and recruiter. If you have all of the tools to be an elite player from an athleticism standpoint, working hard on the things you can control, like technique and fundamentals, can separate you from everyone else.

“I’m going to be real, like, five stars, four stars, aren’t why I recruit a kid, I’m going to recruit kids that love football, that want to be developed, that understand that development is first and also relationships,” Trautwein said. “If they happen to be a five-star that’s great, but if you look at my track record, the guys that I actually had as first-rounders, they were all three stars and Zion Johnson is a zero star.”

With the Gators having brought in a very high-upside freshman recruiting class led by Tyler Chukuyem and Chancellor Campbell, Trautwein’s coaching style can help them thrive with the Gators. It’s also making a difference when it comes to the 2027 class, as they are in the driver’s seat to land five-star offensive lineman Maxwell Hiller.

Trautwein’s approach is the right one, and the hope is that it yields results quickly.

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