Former Tennessee Vols assistant leaves SEC rival just weeks after getting hired
A former Tennessee Vols assistant is leaving the Florida Gators just five weeks after getting hired. Former Vols strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald was hired by Florida earlier this offseason to replace the Gators' former director of strength and conditioning Mark Hocke. News broke this past weekend that Fitzgerald is leaving Gainesville to take […]
A former Tennessee Vols assistant is leaving the Florida Gators just five weeks after getting hired.
Former Vols strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald was hired by Florida earlier this offseason to replace the Gators' former director of strength and conditioning Mark Hocke.
News broke this past weekend that Fitzgerald is leaving Gainesville to take the same position at Boston College, where former Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien was recently hired as the program's new head coach.
Fitzgerald previously worked with O'Brien in Houston and at Penn State.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce my decision to leave the University of Florida Football program," said Fitzgerald in a statement. "After much thought, I have decided to join my decade-long coaching friend Bill O’Brien at Boston College. Bill and I have worked together for almost 10 years. Although it excites me to rejoin him, it pains me to leave a program with such a bright future made up of hard-working, committed, and fine young men and staff."
Florida head coach Billy Napier commented on Fitzgerald's departure in a statement.
“I want to thank Fitz for doing a great job during the five weeks he’s been at Florida,” said Napier. “He’s a very professional and well-respected individual and has been a great resource for our players and our organization. We understand that these decisions are part of the profession and we all have been put in these dynamics at one point or another. As I’ve said before, this game is about relationships and Coach O’Brien and Coach Fitz’s relationship goes way back."
Fitzgerald served as Tennessee's head strength and conditioning coach from 2018 to 2019, before leaving to take the same job with the New York Giants, where he worked from 2020 to 2023.
The sudden departure of Fitzgerald leaves Florida scrambling for a new strength and conditioning coach at a critical part of the offseason where strength work takes center stage.
