Report: Florida Gators Won't Retain Jules Montinar, Garrick McGee

Billy Napier has elected to look elsewhere for the Gators' next cornerbacks coach, and plans to coach Florida's quarterbacks himself.

Photo: Jules Montinar; Credit: Zach Goodall

Billy Napier will not retain cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar or quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee as a part of his Florida Gators coaching staff, according to Corey Bender of GatorsOnline. These are the first members of UF's current staff to reportedly be on their way out. 

Montinar was hired by the Gators earlier this year, taking over the role previously held by dismissed assistant Torrian Gray, who is now at South Carolina. Montinar worked with Napier as a graduate assistant at Alabama in 2013, however, Napier seemingly has other names in mind when it comes to coaching the Gators' cornerbacks.

Under Montinar's guidance, Florida enjoyed the emergence of redshirt freshman Avery Helm as a starter and true freshman Jason Marshall Jr.'s rise to becoming a steady contributor early on in his college career. Although he was initially recruited and developed by Gray, junior Kaiir Elam enjoyed another solid season as a starting Gators cornerback under Montinar in 2021.

Napier, meanwhile, shared on Sunday that he plans to coach the quarterback position himself alongside an analyst, which foreshadowed McGee's time at UF coming to an end. 

Like Montinar, McGee was hired to his position earlier in 2021 after spending a year as an analyst for the Gators, replacing former offensive coordinator/QB coach Brian Johnson after he took a job with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL.

McGee oversaw the development of redshirt junior Emory Jones in his first season as the Gators' starting quarterback. He can also be credited for his work with redshirt freshman Anthony Richardson, who is expected to be the quarterback of Florida's future after flashing plenty of promise this past season.

After the firing of defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and offensive line coach John Hevesy, shortly before Dan Mullen's November dismissal as the Gators' head coach, the expectation is that Napier will overhaul the majority of Florida's coaching staff. 

That process has begun with Montinar and McGee being set to depart, and we'll see in the near future if Napier has plans to retain any current assistants or if he will solely search for outside hires.

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