GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Not so long ago, college football's February National Signing Day was treated like a national holiday in some corners of the country.
Times have changed and now the December Early Signing Period is the de facto National Signing Day. Still, Florida head coach
Billy Napier had plenty to talk about on Wednesday at his first press conference of 2024.
"I do think we've added some really good players to our team since the last time we were in front of [the media] and certainly a lot of staff changes and new hires,'' Napier said. "Good group."
The Gators officially welcomed six additional transfers on their social media accounts Wednesday: quarterback
Clay Millen (6-3, 188) from Colorado State; offensive lineman
Devon Manuel (6-8, 300) from Arkansas; linebacker
Grayson "Pup" Howard from South Carolina; safety
Asa Turner (6-3, 187) from Washington; cornerback
D.J. Douglas from Tulane; and linebacker
George Gumbs (6-4, 242) from Northern Illinois.
Meanwhile, Napier addressed the additions of defensive assistants
Ron Roberts,
Gerald Chatman and
Will Harris, director of football performance
Craig Fitzgerald, chief of staff
Mark Robinson, director of football nutrition/assistant strength coach
Jake Sankal, and senior special-teams analyst
Joe Houston.
Napier dropped a bit of news in confirming that assistants
Mike Peterson,
Jabbar Juluke,
Rob Sale and
Darnell Stapleton are set to return this season.
"We're in the process of that right now as we speak here,'' Napier said.
A couple of other notables: Napier continues to define roles for the offensive staff — "I don't see any major overhauls outside of just how we organize that group and how we operate in-house" — and said quarterback
Graham Mertz, who suffered a season-ending broken collarbone at Missouri in November, will be ready to go in spring practice.
To watch Napier's complete press conference, check out the video below:
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