Billy Napier's coaching staff takes shape as William Peagler rumored to return to Florida

Billy Napier is leaving no stone unturned ahead of the 2025 college football season. The coach has already brought in a host of new assistants this offseason and is set to hire another one. According to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenith, Williams Peagler is returning to Florida.

Peagler was a member of Napier’s first coaching staff in Gainesville. In 2022, he was the Gators’ tight end coach before moving to the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals to become the assistant line coach. He returns to the program in a role yet to be specified.

This will be William Peagler’s fourth stint under Billy Napier. He was a student assistant at Clemson when Napier was the Tigers' tight end coach and subsequent offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. He was also with him when he landed his first head coaching job at Louisiana in 2018.

According to multiple outlets, Peagler has been observed at one of Florida's spring practices but his return remains unofficial. He will be joining Vinnie Sunseri and Deron Wilson as new staff members hired this offseason.

Billy Napier won’t hire an offensive play-caller in 2025

While Billy Napier has made some notable assistant hires this offseason, he won't be getting a new offensive coordinator. The coach will instead continue play-calling in the 2025 season, a trend that has seen significant growth in recent years in the world of college football.

"It’s what got me here," Napier said on the decision to become Florida's play-caller. "It’s how I became the head coach. It’s what’s helped us make progress and win in the past. I’m confident it will help us do that in the future.”

Napier explained that systems are in place for him to delegate certain offensive responsibilities to his assistants. This includes co-offensive coordinator Russ Callaway, along with analysts John Donovan and Ryan O'Hara. This structure allows him to allocate more time to his broader head coaching duties.

"Russ did an exceptional job last year in a leadership role," Napier said. "Running the unit meetings, being a huge ― from an organizational standpoint, installation, scripting, input on the game plan. He was in every one of those meetings.

“I thought John Donovan brought a lot to the table from the situational football, we kind of gave him some ownership in that area, and he really did a nice job."

Florida’s offense ranked 12th in the SEC and 66th nationally, averaging 386.9 yards per game last season. However, the Gators showed promise late in the season after DJ Lagway became the starting quarterback. With Lagway becoming a full starter this year, the hope for Billy Napier is that things get better offensively.