UF football coach Russ Callaway excited about taking on more offensive responsibilities
Florida football co-offensive coordinator Russ Callaway recalled one of his first trips to The Swamp.
As a 10-year-old, Callaway was a ball boy along the sidelines, helping his father, Neil Callaway, who was the offensive coordinator at Alabama at the time. The Shaun Alexander-led Crimson Tide upset the Florida Gators 40-39 on that October afternoon in 1999, which began with the younger Callaway getting an earful from then UF football coach Steve Spurrier.
"He’d yell, ‘Hey, you’re putting too much air in those balls!’," Callaway said. "You know he’d give me all of that stuff and I was just in awe that Coach Spurrier was talking to me."
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A quarter of a century later, Callaway is now on the Florida sidelines, where he will take on added responsibility this year as UF's co-offensive coordinator. His role in play-calling hasn't been determined yet, but at the end of last season, he started to signal in plays from the sidelines, a step in his progression from tight ends coach.
"In what we do, that's a big, important piece, communication," Callaway said. "Because you're talking to the quarterback, you're talking to the tight end, the running back. It is a good way to kind of pick up the offense and learn, you know, the intricacies of the alignments, assignments, from the whole 11."
But for now, Callaway views himself as part of a team leading the offense, where he will continue his responsibilities as tight ends coach.
"We have a great, cohesive unit, and I think it starts with us in that room and then transitions to the players," Callaway said. "Because they see you talking, they see you communicating and asking questions. Everybody's on board doing the right thing."
UF football co-offensive coordinator Russ Callaway a coach's son
Callaway's father, Neil, has stints as an offensive coordinator at Houston (1993-96), Alabama (1998-2000) and Georgia (2001-06) before a four-year run as head coach at UAB (2007-11).
"I grew up in the game," Callaway said. "Been at every SEC stadium twice, and this was the one spot I was like, man, that would be really cool one day if I could be a Gator, and here I am."
Along the way, the younger Callaway learned from several coaches, including Mark Richt and Mike Bobo when his dad worked at Georgia. Then, Callaway began his own coaching career as the offensive coordinator at Samford from 2017-19 and gained further offensive insight working as an offensive analyst at LSU under Steve Ensminger and an offensive assistant with the New York Giants under Jason Garrett.
"Last year, to kind of observe him and some of his responsibilities, I thought he did a great job in not only preparing for meetings with me but also his interactions with the players," Florida football coach Billy Napier said. "I think he’s got good understanding. It’s evident that he’s a coach's son. He’s a leader. He’s done a good job in his role so far.”
Russ Callaway high on the potential of UF football's offense
With Napier calling the plays last season, Florida finished sixth in the SEC in total offense (409.1 ypg) and seventh in pass offense (259.3 yg). There is hope that Florida can make a jump in both categories with quarterback Graham Mertz back in his second season as a starter.
"I'm super excited about Graham," Callaway said. "That kid, it all starts with the quarterback in my opinion. And you know, first off, he's a great person. He's an unbelievable communicator. We ask him to do a lot in our offense, and he's very, very sharp. And he has taken it to the next level more than I thought he would from last year, and that's a great sign for us ...
"We've got a lot of guys in that unit that are hungry, and eager to go out there and prove what we can do."
How much the offense progresses this spring could also determine Callaway's future responsibilities this fall.
"Like any offseason, you want to critique and do things better, you know, whether it's organization, from a scheme standpoint, whatever," Callaway said. "But I'm super excited about this opportunity and can't wait for this year."
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida Gators football coach Russ Callaway taking on bigger role in offense
