While no official announcement has been made, the hire makes sense considering Napier’s connection with Roberts, who spent last season as Auburn’s defensive coordinator. Roberts was Louisiana’s defensive coordinator in Napier’s first two seasons as a head coach in 2018 and ’19. He left Louisiana for Baylor, where he spent three seasons as defensive coordinator prior to going to Auburn in December 2022.
Source: Florida is set to hire Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He spent a season at Auburn after coordinating Baylor’s defense. Auburn recently hired Colorado DC Charles Kelly. @mzenitz and @GrahamHall first reported.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) January 8, 2024
Roberts received a glowing endorsement from Auburn linebacker Eugene Asanta on social media when the news began to spread.
“Coach Ron Roberts took a LB who (was) deemed not good enough to play by a previous staff and helped him be one of the leading tacklers in the SEC,” Asante wrote on Instagram. “For y’all to say he ain’t a good coach is stupid and needs to be examined. Thank you for everything you did for me coach. You instilled confidence into me as a player and I will use everything you taught me daily. Good luck at Florida.”
Asanta had one tackle in 2022 in limited playing time. He led the Tigers with 86 stops as the seventh-leading tackler in the Southeastern Conference in his season playing for Roberts.
He had a message for Gators linebacker Shemar James.
“You got a good one.”
As the offseason news cycle continues to churn, a look at other developments of interest to Gators fans:
MAKING THE READ
—Former Gators quarterback Jack Miller III, whose claim to fame in Orange & Blue will be starting the loss to Oregon State in the 2022 Las Vegas Bowl, is no longer part of the program writes Graham Hall of 247Sports.
—The revamp of Florida’s strength and conditioning staff continues writes Zach Abolverdi of On3.com.
—Good read on Gators freshman quarterback DJ Lagway from Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel.
Story: New #Gators QB DJ Lagway’s dad @DerekLagway1 wishes he’d had his son’s drive.
His coach @TheQBTech believes one day his star pupil will have a statue at UF.
Lagway’s new teammates are…
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