GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For the fourth straight spring, the University of Florida football team hosted hundreds of coaches from around the nation at Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center for its Chalk Talk Coaching Clinic.

This year, collegiate and professional football staff traveled to Gainesville to teach and instruct coaches on ways to improve their middle and high school programs.

Thursday night featured Florida’s coaching staff, led by head coach Billy Napier. Napier, whose father and brother are both high school football coaches, helped create the clinic to give back to the coaching community.

Alongside Napier, Ashour Peera, UF’s Director of Football Logistics and NFL Liaison, oversees the event and manages its on-site operations. Peera is responsible for bringing in speakers, including many from NFL teams, who were the clinic’s featured presenters all day Friday.

Among the hundreds of coaches in attendance was Calvin Davis, head coach of Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, Florida, and the reigning Broward County Football Coach of the Year.

Davis highlighted the opportunity to communicate with collegiate and professional coaches and exchange ideas as one of the event’s key benefits.

“The coaches were all very accommodating,” Davis said. “We were asking questions, and they were helping us with everything.”

He added that he plans to implement some of the strategies he learned at the event, believing they will help his players “understand how it’s done at the highest levels.”

Another coach who praised the clinic was R.J. Fuhr, head coach of local Oak Hall in Gainesville. A four-time attendee, Fuhr commended the event for its quality and accessibility.

“Other clinics are great but really expensive, while this one gives you such a bang for your buck,” Fuhr said.

He also appreciated the openness of the speakers and their willingness to assist visiting coaches.

“They’re just so willing to help, whether that be sending us film of drills or even some conceptual plays,” Fuhr said. “It’s really neat how welcoming they are and how willing they are to help us coaches.”

Bobby Ramsay, the head coach of Andrew Jackson High School in Jacksonville, echoed Fuhr’s sentiments, noting that the transparency of the coaches sets Chalk Talk apart from other clinics.

“I’ve been to some other clinics, and they are super secretive,” Ramsay said. “So, when you are at something like this, and it’s such an open door, it really allows us to go back to our guys and make them better.”

Ramsay, who attended the clinic in 2024, made it a priority to return this year.

The Gators granted Ramsay and the other coaches access to UF’s spring practice, an experience he said made attending the clinic even more valuable.

“The way they structure practice and how they focus on just football — it’s amazing to watch,” Ramsay said.

Davis agreed, saying he was particularly impressed by the organization of the Gators’ practice.

“Everyone gets reps, which is super important,” Davis said. “Finding ways to incorporate that into our practices is something we are now gonna try to do.”

After another successful year of Gators Chalk Talk, the clinic’s mission remains unchanged: giving back while helping shape the football community’s future.

“What they do with Chalk Talk, it’s really first-class,” Fuhr said.