Florida is set to hire a replacement for Darnell Stapleton on their coaching staff
The Florida Gators have had a vacancy on their coaching staff following former assistant coach Darnell Stapleton making a jump to the NFL, to join the Washington Commanders. As Billy Napier has worked to fill out the remaining opening on his football coaching staff, that hire is expected to happen in the near future. According to 247Sports Matt Zenitz, the expectation is Cleveland Browns offensive assistant Jonathan DeCoster will fill that void on the staff as co-offensive line coach. He will help the Gators offensive line along with co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Rob Sale.
He’s been an offensive assistant for the Cleveland Browns since 2021. In 2021 he served as an offensive quality control coach before being named an offensive assistant in 2022. While helping with the team in 2021, the Browns were able to lead the NFL in average rushing yards with 5.09, which was the highest by the team since 1966. That year, Browns running back Nick Chubb ranked second in the league in rushing yards.
He got his first coaching job as a graduate assistant at Nevada back in 2013. While Decoster was at Nevada, he worked with Joel Bitonio, before Bitonio was a second-round pick to the Cleveland Browns.
He also coached offensive line at West Virginia State for two years in 2015 and 2016, helping the Yellow Jackets break 15 school records in that span.
DeCoster also spent three years at LSU as a graduate assistant tight ends coach, including being on staff for their National Championship team in 2019. The Tigers led the nation in total offense that season, scoring offense and red zone offense in 2019 and finished second in passing offense. He helped coach Thad Moss, who was productive for the Tigers during his time in Baton Rouge. He also coached other LSU players at the tight end position such as Foster Moreau and Stephen Sullivan, who were both NFL draft picks.
His final college stop before making the jump to the NFL was spending one year at Old Dominion as their tight ends coach as well. Old Dominion did not play in any games because of the COVID-19 pandemic but the team went through a fall practice period that was similar to spring football.
DeCoster was a four year starter at right tackle for Louisiana-Lafayette. He attended the school from 2006-2010, playing from 2007-2010. He’s a Florida native, from Miramar (Fla.), so he’s got ties to the state of Florida. This hire comes right before the start of spring football at Florida. The team is set to start practice on March 7, with the annual Orange and Blue spring football game set for April 13. The recruiting ‘Contact Period’ window also opens on March 4, so DeCoster will be hit the ground running for the Gators.
