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Florida assistant elects to stay with Gators after interest from LSU, per report
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Florida defensive line coach Gerald Chatman is reportedly staying put after receiving interest from LSU.
Bruce Feldman said Chatman, who is familiar with the Tiger program, gave LSU “a lot of consideration,” but opted to remain with Billy Napier at Florida. Brian Kelly is in the market for a new defensive line coach after the New Orleans Saints hired Bo Davis away.
SOURCE: After a lot of consideration, Gerald Chatman who was a top target for the LSU D-line coaching vacancy, has opted to remain at Florida. In his first season at UF, the Gators made big jumps in sacks, TFLs and turnovers. LSU is looking to hire its EIGHTH D-line coach since…
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) March 1, 2025
Chatman had 2 stints in Baton Rouge.
In 2021, Chatman was a defensive analyst for the Tigers under former coach Ed Orgeron. He left for the on-field defensive line coaching job at Tulane in spring 2022. That same year, however, Chatman was later hired by Deion Sanders as Colorado’s defensive line coach.
After his season at Colorado, Chatman returned to LSU as a defensive analyst in 2023. He served as the interim defensive line coach in the spring in between the firing of Karl Dorrell and hiring of Jimmy Lindsey.
It was back to Tulane for Chatman in 2023. He was then hired by Florida ahead of the 2024 season.
Chatman is credited with helping a Gator defensive turnaround that was led by strong defensive line play. As a whole, the Florida defense saw marked improvement from 2023 to 2024 in sacks (+17), tackles for loss (+28), forced fumbles (+11), pass breakups (+12), interceptions (+11) and turnovers gained (+18). UF finished the 2024 campaign ranked 9th in the nation in red zone defense (.725), 11th in sacks per game (3.0), 11th in fumbles recovered (11) and 13th in turnovers gained (25).
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
