Ryan O'Hara will call plays for Florida Gators offense

Interim Florida Gators football coach Billy Gonzales said Monday that quarterbacks coach Ryan O’Hara will call UF’s offensive plays moving forward. That role had been held by outgoing head coach Billy Napier, whom the program fired Sunday. Russ Callaway will remain offensive coordinator.

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“Coach Callaway is going to be the OC, but I’m gonna let Coach O’Hara call the plays,” Gonzales said at a press conference introducing him as interim coach. “And I think the most important piece to that is there’s a rhythm piece between him and (quarterback DJ Lagway). I think it’s really important that the quarterback is an extension of his teacher. And in this particular setting for the next five games, I think that’s going to be critical.”

In college football, a coach signals the play to the quarterback via an in-helmet communication device. Gonzales noted the significance of that in his decision to have O’Hara call the plays.

“DJ has got a great relationship with both (O’Hara and Callaway) but I think it’s going to be an opportunity to hit home over and over the teaching methods that go on in a meeting and let him be familiar with that voice,” Gonzales said.

O’Hara played quarterback at Arizona and Central Oklahoma in college. He has coached UF’s quarterbacks since 2022. Before that, he was on Napier’s staff at Louisiana.

Prior to his stint at Louisiana, O’Hara was offensive coordinator at Alabama A&M (2016-17).

Napier was fired after going just 22-23 at Florida. The UF offense statistically got worse both in yards and points in each of Napier’s four seasons and he was the play caller. This year, UF is 90th in total offense (363.0 yards a game) and 103rd in scoring (22.4).

“I see the same things,” Gonzales said of UF’s offensive struggles. “We want to be more productive, and we want to be more explosive.”

According to Gonzales, “I think you’ll see some things that are a little different” in the offense before adding, “I think we’ve got a lot of playmakers and I’d like to be able to spread it out a little bit.”

“Coach Napier’s offense, we actually have an arsenal of plays within the system,” Gonzales said. “It’s kind of basically picking and choosing and allowing our quarterback to be in position to do the things that he does best. That’s the ultimate goal of our offensive staff. Coach Callaway does an amazing job and he’s going to continue to keep us together as an offensive staff and put those plays together for us.”

According to Gonzales, the Gators will have a “collaborative effort as far as we gameplan” on offense. He noted, “It’s something that I’ve been used to over the years.”

Of Callaway, he added, “He does an unbelievable job at leading. He does a fantastic job making sure everyone’s on the same page. He’s going to continue working hand in hand with Coach O’Hara and the rest of the offensive staff we have. As I said, it’s going to be a collaborate effort. Coach will still be highly involved in everything.”

*Gonzales, who has been UF’s receivers coach since 2023, will continue to be hands-on with the receivers but said he’d “like to become more of a manager” in his new position as interim coach. That means larger roles ahead for Chad Lucas and David Doeker, UF’s quality control coaches who work with the receivers. “They do a fantastic job,” Gonzales said.

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*Offensive line coach Rob Sale and running backs coach Jabbar Juluke will “have a lot of input as far as the run game” in game planning, per Gonzales.

*On the defensive side of the ball, defensive coordinator Ron Roberts will continue to run the show. The Gators are 42nd nationally in total defense (337.6 yards a game) and 33rd in points allowed (20.0)

“Coach (Ron Roberts) has done a fantastic job over there,” Gonzales said. “The whole defensive staff has done an amazing job. They work extremely well together. Their players are motivated.”