When new Florida head coach Jon Sumrall began building his staff, he brought in a lot of new faces. But one UF coach stuck out as a must-keep: defensive line coach Gerald Chatman.
“When I took the job, that was somebody I had in mind for retaining,” Sumrall said Wednesday. “Gerald was one I thought I would retain on the front end that I did retain … I think the d-line group respects him, likes being coached by him. I think he's a good relationship builder. I also think he's a good football coach.”
Chatman, who enters his third season at Florida, nearly joined Sumrall at Tulane in 2024, before the now-Gators head coach encouraged him to take the job and offered to “help [him] pack.”
But on Friday, Chatman made one thing clear. His retention wasn’t his main focus. It was the retention of his defensive line.
“I know everybody's fired up about recruiting, but retention is just as important because if you're developing, you're teaching the right way, then you benefit from having guys multiple years in the same program,” Chatman said.
Last season, Florida’s defensive line had seven players appear in all 12 games. Five of them are back.
Now, as the Gators shift from a 3-4 scheme to new defensive coordinator Brad White’s preferred 4-3 front, Chatman is ready for his position group to continue to improve.
“I'm a fan of Brad White just because he wants the front to eat,” Chatman said. “So we speak the same language when it comes to that. He embraces the front being violent. It has to be violent for the defense to work.”
Chatman’s responsibilities have increased in 2026, not just as he takes his new assistant head coaching position. He will now oversee UF’s talented edge rusher room, led by sophomore Jayden Woods.
However, Chatman has plenty of familiarity inside his group. Among UF’s returnees are sophomores Joseph Mbatchou and Jeramiah McCloud, both of whom Chatman has high hopes for this season.
"I think the whole country has seen these guys [Mbatchou and McCloud] grow, so shoutout to all the guys who tried to get them in the portal,” Chatman said. “Those guys show loyalty to this university and to this logo. That means a lot."
Mbatchou made nine appearances in his freshman season, totalling 11 total tackles, including one for loss. He earned a 61.4 Pro Football Focus grade.
“He has elite traits, size, ability,” Chatman said. “Comes from a really good family background, that's part of the reason why he's a really good kid and understands hard work.”
Meanwhile, McCloud played in 11 games, recording 13 tackles, half a tackle for loss and two pass break ups en route to earning a 65.8 PFF grade.
“McCloud is more unorthodox,” Chatman said. “He's gonna make things happen, and it's kind of sometimes, not the right thing but it's the right thing if that makes sense.”
Another player Chatman and UF director of football performance Rusty Whitt both mentioned as a key piece to UF’s puzzle is redshirt junior Brendan Bett.
While Bett’s most memorable moment of the season was him being penalized and ejected after spitting on South Florida offensive lineman Cole Skinner in UF’s 18-16 upset loss, he responded by putting up a solid statistical season.
He recorded 39 tackles, four of them for a loss and three of which resulted in sacks. His 72.9 PFF run defending grade was best among UF defensive linemen last season.
"Guys make mistakes,” Chatman said. “He's really grown. The coaching staff speaks highly of him and his leadership and work ethic … Part of development is your mindset. Toughness is not just about physical toughness, but mental toughness.”
One player Chatman hasn’t worked with yet, but that he is looking to help develop, is edge rusher LJ McCray. The former five-star recruit only played four snaps in 2025 before suffering a season-ending injury.
However, Chatman has high hopes for the junior, as long as the Daytona Beach, Florida, native puts in the necessary effort to improve.
“He has to go work right now,” Chatman said. “He has to embrace the weight room. He has to change his body, and he has to go through the process right now.”
With everybody in the building working towards a common goal, Chatman doesn’t care if his group is filled with former five-stars or if they are nationally known. He cares about getting the best out of his players.
“I think it's all about embracing the challenge of what we have and maximizing what we have, maximizing all the potential,” Chatman said. “I think you'll see guys you'll talk more about, guys that you may not talk about now.”
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23
Max is a junior sports journalism student in his seventh semester at The Alligator. He serves as The Alligator's assistant sports editor and football beat coordinator. He previously served as The Alligator's sports editor and as a reporter for football, women's tennis, volleyball, lacrosse and sports enterprise. He also has made multiple appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. Max wants to shoutout his cats, Scooter and Zoe, and niche former Florida Panthers players (shoutout Maxim Mamin).
