GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In an era of significant change in college football, Florida’s “GatorMade” program has introduced UF players to opportunities far from the playing field.

The program, headed by senior director Savannah Bailey, is making a stop in Texas this week during spring break to visit former UF and NFL star Emmitt Smith’s real estate and construction companies, a Fort Worth Police Department crime lab and an alumni mixer for the players to meet UF professionals in the DFW Metroplex.

The GatorMade program is described as “a holistic player-focused and purpose-driven initiative” and part of Florida head coach Billy Napier‘s master plan when he took over the program in 2022. In other words, GatorMade seeks to ensure student-athletes are prepared for life in the real world.

 

#GatorMade took 13 Football Scholar-Athletes to JAX for professional development with the @Jaguars, Wounded Warrior Project, Florida Blue, and the @PGATOUR!#GoGators | #GatorsinJAX pic.twitter.com/miq00XBzat

— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) March 8, 2025

Gators graduate tight end Caleb Rillos is one of those athletes who is utilizing the program’s resources. Rillos transferred from the Air Force Academy after completing his undergraduate degree to work towards his master’s in mechanical engineering.

Rillos was among the 14 players who recently made a four-day trip to Jacksonville, including visits with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Wounded Warrior Project, Florida Blue, and the PGA Tour headquarters. The visits included department presentations, professional panels and entrepreneurship discussions.

“It was awesome,” Rillos said. “They showed us a bunch of different business opportunities that you could see yourself applying to in the future.”

While the trip to the PGA Tour headquarters was popular because the players got to swing some clubs, the visit to the Wounded Warrior Project resonated for Rillos as a graduate of the Air Force Academy.

“That one had a deeper meaning for me because I have met several veterans,” he said. “Of course, being from the Academy, you’re surrounded by military all day. Everyone on the base is military, so you just know everything they put into it and how hard they work.

“When they get injured, and they’re struggling, and their family needs them, that one just hits home because when they do so much for the country, you want to help them out.”

A second lieutenant in the Air Force, Rillos already knows what his life will look like after his football career ends, having a job lined up with Space Force acquisitions.

“Space Force was created as a separate branch in 2019, but there has always been a Space Force. It has just been under the Air Force, and all that really means is the satellite piece of the military, whether that be GPS, communication, radio, or everything that works with satellites to communicate on the battlefield is what the Space Force falls under.”

To enter into this specialized military branch, students from the Academy must apply in their senior year. However, they only take 100 out of 1,000 Academy graduates each year.

Being one of 100 students to work in this branch is a true testament to the kind of work Rillos puts into his academics, and the team sees it on the field, too.

“Well, he’s an Air Force grad. That ought to tell you a lot. He can fly a plane. He can build a house. There’s pretty much nothing he can’t do. He’s the world’s most interesting man in that sense,” said Gators co-offensive coordinator Russ Callaway. “From a football standpoint, he’s really the same way. The way he is off the field is very similar to how he is on the field.”

While fans have not been able to see Rillos in action due to an injury, he makes his presence known by pushing everyone around him to compete at their best.

“Caleb is a great guy. Obviously, he’s an Air Force grad, that’s nuts. That’s not easy to do by any means. He came here, got a little banged up and sat out last season. Even when he was out, he was still helping guys out,” said fellow tight end Hayden Hanson. “He was setting the tone with how he does things, and I think that Air Force momentum he had kind of carried over, how he studied film. He picked it up pretty fast.”

 

While he has been able to make these connections and impacts within his position group and the offense, the GatorMade trip has allowed him to grow closer to some of the younger defensive players, such as Jalen Wiggins and Ty Jackson.

“What I thought was awesome about the GatorMade trip was getting closer to your teammates because the football teams are so big, it’s 100 plus, compared to a basketball team where it’s like 20,” Rillos said. “It gives you opportunities to meet players on an individual level.”

Forging these connections among teammates helps them network for future professions and creates deeper bonds so the team can operate more cohesively.

Rillos, who missed last season due to injury, is eager to see how those connections pay off on the field. Meanwhile, the GatorMade experience away from the game can benefit the Gators now and in the future.

“I would say it opens my eyes to a job I might want after my military career. The jobs I’d be looking at through GatorMade aren’t for right when I graduate with my master’s, but they’re for the future after my service,” said Rillos. “It’s something a lot of people struggle with once they get out of the military because they’ve been a part of a team for so long.

“I’m just giving myself opportunities for after the fact.”