{"id":93290,"date":"2025-12-23T03:06:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T03:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/93290\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T03:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T03:06:09","slug":"florida-gators-to-hire-dukes-chris-foster-as-running-backs-coach-completing-jon-sumralls-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/93290\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Gators to hire Duke\u2019s Chris Foster as running backs coach, completing Jon Sumrall\u2019s staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Image Credit: Mallory Peak, UAA<\/a><\/p>\n

Bringing a handful of assistant coaches over from Tulane after the program was eliminated from the College Football Playoff, new head coach Jon Sumrall had one hire left to make to complete his first full staff since taking over the Florida Gators. That move appears to have been decided as Duke running backs coach Chris Foster is expected to take the same position, according to CBS Sports\u2019 Matt Zenitz.<\/p>\n

In Foster\u2019s lone year with the Blue Devils, Nate Sheppard rushed for 962 yards as the team\u2019s top two runners combined for 21 touchdowns on the ground. The South Carolina native and Gardner-Webb alumnus joined Duke from Northwestern (2023-24), where the rushing offense was wholly unimpressive. His prior stops include East Carolina (2021-22), where he coached Keaton Mitchell, and Georgia Southern (2016-20), where he coached Matt Brieda and was nominated for the Browles Award given to the nation\u2019s top college football assistant.<\/p>\n

Of chief importance with Foster in the fold is attempting to secure the services of sophomore Jadan Baugh, one of the best running backs in the nation. Ex-Florida RB coach Jabbar Juluke was hired away by Texas, and it is believed the Longhorns have a significant chance at luring Baugh away through the transfer portal.<\/p>\n

The Gators attempted to hire Derrick Nix to the position, but he instead accepted a job as Alabama\u2019s wide receivers coach. Sumrall cast a wide net to fill the position, interviewing at least a half dozen other candidates, before ultimately landing on Foster, who was pursued by at least two other SEC programs this cycle.<\/p>\n

Foster clearly has experience with success attributed to his tutelage, but he has yet to coach or recruit at an SEC level or show sustained greatness from one stop to the next. Furthermore, his rushing offenses have never ranked high in efficiency or success rate despite Sheppard and Mitchell putting up numbers.<\/p>\n

Coupled with wide receivers coach Marcus Davis and tight ends coach Evan McKissack, it is fair to raise questions about the assistants chosen to lead Florida\u2019s offensive playmakers, despite the exceedingly strong hires of offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and offensive line coach Phil Trautwein plus the experience of quaterbacks coach Joe Craddock. Grade: C+<\/p>\n

Florida Gators coaching staff, 2026<\/p>\n

Head coach \u2014 Jon Sumrall<\/a> | Grade: B-
Defensive coordinator \u2014 Brad White<\/a> (Kentucky) | Grade: B-
Offensive coordinator \u2014 Buster Faulkner<\/a> (Georgia Tech) | Grade: A
Defensive line coach \u2014 Gerald Chatman (Florida) | promoted to assistant head coach<\/a>
Offensive line coach \u2014 Phil Trautwein<\/a> (Penn State) | Grade: A
Cornerbacks coach \u2014 Brandon Harris<\/a> (UCF) | Grade: B
Wide receivers coach \u2014 Marcus Davis<\/a> (Auburn) | Grade: C+
Safeties coach \u2014 Chris Collins<\/a> (Kentucky) | Grade: B-
Quarterbacks coach \u2014 Joe Craddock<\/a> (Tulane) | Grade: B
Inside linebackers coach \u2014 Greg Gasparato<\/a> (Tulane) | Grade: B\u2013
Outside linebackers coach \u2014 Bam Hardmon<\/a> (Tulane) | Grade: B
Special teams coordinator \u2014 Jonathan Galante<\/a> (Tulane) | Grade: A-
Tight ends coach \u2014 Evan McKissack<\/a> (Tulane) | Grade: C-
Running backs coach \u2014 Chris Foster (Duke) | Grade: C+
Strength & conditioning coordinator \u2014 Rusty Whitt<\/a> (Tulane) | Grade: B<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image Credit: Mallory Peak, UAA Bringing a handful of assistant coaches over from Tulane after the program was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4028,41262,49845,2516,49299,28,30,29,49301,10712,49846,45430,62],"class_list":{"0":"post-93290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-acc","9":"tag-buster-faulkner","10":"tag-chris-davis","11":"tag-duke-blue-devils","12":"tag-evan-mckissack","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-florida-headlines","15":"tag-florida-news","16":"tag-joe-craddock","17":"tag-jon-sumrall","18":"tag-marcus-davis","19":"tag-phil-trautwein","20":"tag-sec"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93290","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=93290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}