After being named interim head coach on Sunday, Billy Gonzales took the podium in his opening press conference Monday and made his intentions clear: his goal is impassioned, energetic Florida Gators football.
“The players, we play for the patch,” Gonzales said. “You represent your name on the back of your jersey. I think when you put them together, I think you get something special.”
If anyone knows what it means to be a Florida Gator, it’s Gonzales. Florida’s longtime wide receivers coach has served three different stints in three different decades on UF’s staff, beginning under head coach Urban Meyer in 2005.
Gonzales said he spoke to Meyer Sunday night, and the two talked about the situation the new interim coach faced after taking over for former head coach Billy Napier halfway through the 2025 season.
“One of the unique things he talked about, and we talked about, is you're walking into a situation where it's not the perfect situation,” Gonzales said. “But when you look at it, we went back, and we started talking about the two national championships… we weren't perfect back then either.”
In a time of uncertainty surrounding the program following Napier’s dismissal, Gonzales emphasized his focus was on winning and improved play on the field.
That mindset was seconded by Florida’s leaders on the field. Senior center Jake Slaughter said he has a lot of love for the longtime Gator coach, who he’s excited to play under.
The relationship between the interim coach and the all-American center goes back to Slaughters’ high school days, where he played alongside his son, Cole, at Trinity Catholic High School.
“I have so much respect for Coach Gonzales,” Slaughter said. “His boy was my quarterback my senior year, so I have a lot of unique experience that maybe not everybody else has with Coach Gonzales… He’s fired up. He’s awesome.”
Sophomore linebacker Myles Graham seconded Slaughter’s “fired up” comment, saying that it shows in how his wide receivers play on game day.
“He’s a great leader,” Graham said. “He brings a lot of energy and he’s fired up all the time. Your room is a reflection of you, and that room plays tenacious, they play relentless. They get the job done.”
On the mental and strategic side, Florida sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway said Gonzales’ approach will be crucial for the Gators for the rest of the season.
“He gets accurate, and I’ve grown close to him, with him coaching the receivers,” Lagway said. “I’m excited for coach Billy G, and I’m excited to learn from him, to continue to develop and to continue to get better as a player.”
Gonzales said that quarterbacks coach Ryan O’Hara will be the offense’s primary playcaller as he has a “rhythm piece" between him and the UF signal caller.
With five games at the helm of the school Gonzales called a “special place,” the interim head coach stated his mission.
“[We] have one goal: to move forward and continue to do our job,” Gonzales said. “Everything we do is put on film. Everything we do is going to be out there. Make sure you -- every rep you take as a player, it's your resumé. And for us, as a coaching staff, we've got to go do the same thing.”
After a bye week, Florida heads to EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville to face the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs Nov. 1 at 3:30 p.m.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
Max is in his sixth semester at The Alligator and now serves as The Alligator's Football Reporter and is a junior sports journalism student. He previously served as The Alligator's Sports Editor, and served as reporter for women's tennis, volleyball and lacrosse. He also has made multiple appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. He wants to shoutout his cats, Scooter and Zoe, and also loves niche professional athletes (shoutout Tomas Fleischmann).
