4 Florida football staffers land on On3’s list of ‘rising stars’
Monday morning, On3 revealed their list of 65 “rising stars” across all the support staffs in college football. They included four staffers from Billy Napier’s off-field army: offensive analysts Russ Calloway and Benedick Hyppolite, linebackers assistant Jamar Chaney and quarterbacks assistant Ryan O'Hara.
Calloway was brought in by Florida alongside offensive coordinator Rob Sale after both were let go by the New York Giants during their coaching purge. Before going to NFL, he was instrumental in Samford’s surge to the top of the FCS passing leaderboard.
Hyppolite has deep roots in the state of Florida. He spent the past two seasons assisting with the wide receivers at Miami, and before that, spent several seasons as a high school coach in South Florida. He’s assigned to the running backs and his connections in-state are valuable for a staff whose key recruiters largely have ties in the bayou.
It’s tough to tell from the outside looking in, but if I had to guess, Chaney would be who I’d point to as Florida’s most trusted off-field staffer. He’s a rare holdover from the previous administration, but never lost the trust of the boys on the team. He’s often assigned to run point on initial contacts with defensive recruits and his name is routinely put next to Mike Peterson’s and Sean Spencer’s in recruiting rumor roundups.
Finally, O’Hara was the Ragin’ Cajuns’ quarterbacks coach under Napier before joining him in Florida under the same role. Technically, Napier was and is listed as the quarterbacks coach, a role consolidation that allowed him to hire two full time offensive line coaches. However, it’s really O’Hara who takes the bulk of those responsibilities, helping Levi Levis become the best quarterback in Cajuns’ history.
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