GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Billy Gonzales has coached at the University of Florida as many years as College Football Hall of Famer Steve Spurrier. Gonzales has twice as many national titles as him, too.
Gonzales is in his third stint with the Gators, having first stepped foot on campus under Urban Meyer in 2005. He returned as part of Dan Mullen’s staff in 2018, then came back again when Billy Napier asked in 2023.
Now it’s his program — for the next five games anyway.
Gonzales agreed to serve as the team’s interim coach when athletic director Scott Stricklin fired Napier on Oct. 19. Gonzales jumped at the offer. After all, he has waited more than three decades for this opportunity.
“It’s always been about the players,” said Gonzales, 54. “When you get into coaching and you have an opportunity, it’s most importantly about the players. And, for me, it was to hopefully continue to give back to what the coaching staff gave me when I was a player, and that’s to provide guidance, to provide another family, another father figure.”
He hesitated for a second and then continued: “Obviously, I like winning. We want to win. We’re at the University of Florida. We want to win games. And let’s call it what it is: We’re out here to try to get that done as well, too.”
Gonzales has a chance to get a huge victory when the Gators (3-4, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) play No. 5 Georgia (6-1, 4-1) in the annual border rivalry game known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” on Saturday at Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium.
The Bulldogs have won four in a row in the series, doing so with an average margin of victory of 21.5 points. Although coach Kirby Smart’s team has looked susceptible at times this season — trailing at halftime in four of five conference games — Georgia has turned it up late to remain in the race for a possible repeat as SEC champion and in the mix for a College Football Playoff berth.
Both teams are coming off an open date last weekend, and no one really knows what to expect from the Gators, who were in their fourth season under Napier. Gonzales made no staff changes other than installing quarterbacks coach Ryan O’Hara as the primary caller for offensive plays. They plan to spread things out and push the ball down the field, no surprise considering Gonzales is a longtime receivers coach, and something that was missing under Napier this season.
Still, there has to be concern about players checking out with so little at stake down the stretch.
“Just playing for the (Gators) patch and playing for the name on our back,” senior left tackle Austin Barber said. “That’s the big thing for us. We’ve got a lot of seniors out there, and we want to put out a good product for them. And it’s just about playing for the university and playing for the fans.”
Gonzales might be the ideal interim coach to keep the team together. He won two national titles working for Meyer and has experienced the firings of Mullen and now Napier. He has so much respect for the program that he chose not to move into Napier’s office or even use his parking spot.
“I’ve been asked to oversee the program right now by Mr. Stricklin,” Gonzales said. “I always told him, ‘We are doing this together as a staff. It’s us working together. It’s us working with our players.’ Always will be, and I take great pride in that.”
Gonzales has heard from several head coaches he worked for in the past week, including Meyer and Mullen. They told him the same thing: Be yourself.
Gonzales’ coaching career has been all about serving. He volunteered at his alma mater, Colorado State, in 1993. Meyer, an assistant at the time, put Gonzales in charge of slot receivers the following spring. It led to a paid position at MacMurray College — an NCAA Division III program in Illinois — and then a move to Kent State.
One of his earliest memories is driving to a hardware store twice a week in his “beat-up, old, white Chevrolet” to buy carbon dioxide canisters and white paint to line the practice and game fields.
“I had to go read a book on how to line a field,” he recalled. “I took great pride in it.”
He’s taking a similar approach to this coaching opportunity, even though it’s temporary, with the Gators expected to hire a big name who will be tasked with making them contenders for SEC titles and national championships once again.
And his staff very well might include an assistant who has stood by three other Florida head coaches.
“I love Florida. This is a special place to me,” Gonzales said. “A goal of mine would be to stay here. My first goal is to make sure we put a fantastic group of players on that football field that are going to compete and play for the University of Florida.”