{"id":149303,"date":"2026-02-09T21:33:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T21:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/149303\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T21:33:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T21:33:47","slug":"phil-trautwein-bring-championship-standards-back-to-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/149303\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Trautwein bring championship standards back to Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

GAINESVILLE \u2014 Phil Trautwein\u2019s return<\/a> to his old stomping grounds at Florida feels welcoming, familiar and \u2014 he had long hoped \u2014 inevitable.<\/p>\n

Much also has changed since the Gators\u2019 new offensive line coach<\/a> attended his first game in the Swamp in 2001 or lined up at left tackle for the 2006 and 2008 national champions.<\/p>\n

The palatial $85 million Heavener Football Center dazzled him. The program\u2019s recent struggles disheartened him. The talent he inherited reassured him.<\/p>\n

Trautwein arrived in December determined to take the considerable tools at his disposal to build a better future rooted in past success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to win national championships. For me, it\u2019s everything,\u201d Trautwein said Monday. \u201cSeeing what we did, what we can be: I want to get us back to winning national championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trautwein has wanted to get back to Gainesville ever since he entered coaching in 2013, following an NFL career featuring four seasons at six NFL stops \u2014 mostly spent on practice squads.<\/p>\n

The chance finally came when UF hired Tulane\u2019s Jon Sumrall Nov. 30<\/a> as the next head coach.<\/p>\n

Sumrall\u2019s conference champions at Troy (2022-23) and Tulane (2024-25) were built from the lines of scrimmage outward. Meanwhile, the Gators struggled mightily in the trenches during Billy Napier\u2019s four-year tenure, posting three losing seasons marked by inconsistency and undisciplined play up front.<\/p>\n

Trautwein\u2019s hire was one of Sumrall\u2019s most critical offseason moves.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Florida offensive lineman Phil Trautwein was left tackle for the 2006 and 2008 national champions. He join coach Jon Sumrall’s staff after six seasons at Penn State. (AP Photo\/Barry Reeger)<\/p>\n

For Trautwein, it was a full-circle moment \u2014 the culmination of a 12-year journey with two stops at Boston College (2013-15, 2018-19) sandwiching a stint to Davidson (2016-17) before he landed at Penn State the past six seasons (2019-25).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis place is special to me,\u201d Trautwein said. \u201cI learned a lot. I grew a lot as a person, as a player. I have an unbelievable love for the University of Florida. I always wanted to come back and coach where I played and where I learned football, where I learned how to be a man. Then being able to help young men through the same journey that I\u2019ve been in.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time as a coach, I\u2019ve been in your shoes. I\u2019ve literally been in your shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 39, Trautwein is quick to note how different the landscape has become. NIL opportunities, state-of-the-art facilities and luxury housing were unheard of when he was a player living in the Springs Residential Complex.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got digital screens in their bathrooms,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got some cool stuff. But it\u2019s awesome. I\u2019m happy for them because it helps them. But I wish we had it.\u201d<\/p>\n

What he lacked in amenities, Trautwein made up for with technique, toughness and discipline.<\/p>\n

A 3-star prospect out of Voorhees Township, New Jersey, Trautwein was 6-foot-6, 320-pound tackle who overachieved under the guidance of coach Steve Adazzio<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked eight weeks for my pro day, and I ran a 5.35 [seconds in the 40-yard dash], I did 225 [pounds bench press] 21 times \u2014 like average. But I felt like I had the best kick, so I could always gain ground. My kick was perfect; my punch was on time. Those little things in my technique and fundamentals made me be able to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody in the room right now here is more talented than me, but I would outwork them with my technique and fundamentals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The philosophy \u2014 passed down from Adazzio and before him Coach Bevere at Eastern Regional High School \u2014 forms the backbone of Trautwein\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call two coaches on Father\u2019s Day: my high school coach and coach Adazzio,\u201d Trautwein said. \u201cThey cared about me; they pushed me. But also they loved me and they did everything for me. That\u2019s the kind of coach I am.<\/p>\n

\u201cRelationships are big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those relationships won\u2019t be built without hard conversations. Florida\u2019s O-linemen can expect honesty, accountability and vulnerability, including lessons from their coach\u2019s own struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to direct them and show them and just talk real with them,\u201d he said. \u201cTell them things I struggled with because as a coach I still don\u2019t have all of the answers. But I\u2019m willing to learn. I\u2019m willing to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trautwein is the confident that growth will return the Gators to the standard he remembers. Two tattoos on his right arm are reminders \u2014 one bearing a Gator head with \u201c2006,\u201d the other commemorating the \u201908 title team.<\/p>\n

Two decades later, there\u2019s room for another.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully we can get another one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GAINESVILLE \u2014 Phil Trautwein\u2019s return to his old stomping grounds at Florida feels welcoming, familiar and \u2014 he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[111,28,2530,30,29,2496,114,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-149303","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-college-sports","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-gators","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-news","13":"tag-gainesville","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}