Florida Promoting Tyler Miles to Director of Football Performance

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida is promoting its Director of Player Athletic Development, Tyler Miles, to oversee the Gators' strength and conditioning department as the Director of Football Performance, according to Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel. 

Miles will replace Craig Fitzgerald, who left the program on Feb. 11 after roughly one month on the job to take a similar position at Boston College, in the role. 

Fitzgerald was hired in late December 2023 to take over Florida's strength and conditioning program, following the reassignment of its previous director, Mark Hocke, to a player development function. 

“We understand that these decisions are part of the profession and we all have been put in these dynamics at one point or another," Florida head coach Billy Napier said in a statement after Fitzgerald's exit. "As I’ve said before, this game is about relationships and [Boston College] coach [Bill] O’Brien and coach Fitz's relationship goes way back. We have a ton of respect for Fitz and are thankful for what he did for our team. 

"We also have a great group of strength assistants and sports science staff that I have a lot confidence in. We’ll regroup and we’ll evaluate the situation and make another great decision for our team. We’re fortunate to be at the University of Florida and are able to attract the very best in the country.” 

Miles joined the Gators in a player development capacity before the 2023 season and was tasked with aiding players in their recovery from injuries and return to the field, per Thompson. 

Before his hiring in Gainesville, Miles operated as the assistant director of sports performance at Duke in 2022, where he worked primarily with the football program. 

He gained previous assistant and intern strength and conditioning experience at South Carolina (2017), Tennessee (2018), Northwestern State (2019), Miami (2021), and briefly with the New York Jets within 2018-19. He led the strength department at Tennessee State in 2020, where he worked with the football, volleyball and track teams. 

Thompson reported that Florida players advocated for Miles to assume Fitzgerald's vacated duties, after leading the team's strength and conditioning department in an interim position since Fitzgerald's departure. 

This is a breaking news story that will be updated.