Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun

Florida Gators lose game changing assistant to a promotion at rival institution

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Tyler Forness | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 9:08 PM ET

The Florida Gators have seen multiple assistants move on this offseason with some of them receiving promotions at other programs. It's a normal part of the world of college football. What's really interesting is seeing a coaching change at the beginning on June, as that's not a normal thing.

Head coach Billy Napier saw one of his game changer coordinators, Chris Couch, leave the program on Monday to head over to Houston to be their special teams coordinator.

Houston is hiring Florida’s Chris Couch as its new special teams coordinator, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports.

Couch, whom @zach_barnett had reported as Houston’s top target for the job, was Florida’s GameChanger coordinator the last three seasons. He previously worked under… pic.twitter.com/9MfJ6DBBAN
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) June 2, 2025

Losing Couch is a tough one for the Gators, but not all hope is lost when it comes to special teams. They still have special teams coordinator Joe Houston on staff for the 2025 season.

What's interesting is the fact that Couch left Napier now. He was with Napier at Louisiana in 2021 as the director of quality control and analytics, along with being the special teams coordinator. He then followed him to the Gators in 2022 as a game changer coordinator, which Napier uses instead of a traditional special teams coordinator.

Couch is now reuniting with Houston head coach Willie Fritz, who he worked under for the five years prior to joining Napier. He's been coacing since 2012 when he coached the slot backs at Missouri Southern State University.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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