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Florida Gators director of football communications hired by Dolphins

On3 imageby:Zach Abolverdi•05/24/24•

ZachAbolverdi

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Billy Napier’s staff has been raided by the NFL once again. This time, he’s losing his director of football communications, Rick Hurtado.

Hurtado announced Friday that he’s been hired by the Miami Dolphins. It’s a return to the league for him after previously working with the Denver Broncos.

Hurtado joined the Gators in 2020 as an assistant director of communications, working with the football and track & field programs. He was promoted to director of football communications during the 2021 football season.

Hurtado, a UF graduate, has spent the past two years as Napier’s right-hand man to coordinate his speaking engagements, news conference schedule, interview requests, access to reporters and talking points with the press.

This spring, Hurtado arranged 14 media availabilities with 32 players and 12 coaches.

Gators Online is grateful to Hurtado for his working relationship with our staff and facilitating exclusive content to our readers from inside the Florida football facility, including a behind-the-scenes look on National Signing Day and at offseason workouts.

“After four seasons with the Florida Gators, I’m proud to share that I accepted an opportunity to join the Miami Dolphins PR staff,” Rick Hurtado said in a post on his social media account. “To say that my time at UF has been special and rewarding is an understatement. Working for my Alma Mater’s football program has been a dream come true, and I’m thankful for all the people here who have made an impact on my life and my career. It will always be Go Gators!

“I’m extremely excited to return to the NFL and to join my hometown team. My family and I are excited for this new chapter in our lives, and I can’t wait to make the most out of this opportunity.”

Hurtado was born in Colombia and moved to Miami in middle school. Before graduating from UF and starting in the NFL as an intern, Sgt. Ricardo Hurtado was a combat correspondent for the U.S. Marine Corps.

He was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and deployed three times to document humanitarian efforts in Thailand, the Balikatan training exercises in the Philippines and a combat zone in the Middle East.

“It was never really anything where I want to be in the military forever and be a general. I just wanted to serve my country,” Hurtado said in a 2019 profile on him from The Athletic.

Hurtado earned his bachelor’s degree in public relations from UF in 2018 and graduated as a double Gator in 2020 with his master’s degree in sport management.

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