Trautwein Already Deep at Work with Florida Football’s Coaching Staff

Florida’s busy offseason brought tons of new faces to the locker room for the upcoming season. After the hiring of Jon Sumrall, the new Gators coach brought in his own coaching staff. 

One of those hires was former Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein, an All-SEC selection, team captain and two-time national champion during his playing days as a Gator (2004-08). 

Trautwein said on WRUF’s “Sportscene” with Steve Russell that this year isn’t his first time coaching in Gainesville. He said he always wanted to be a coach after his playing days in the NFL were over and returned to Florida to assist after he got hurt in his second season. 

“I actually did a little bit of volunteering at Gainesville High School,” Trautwein said Wednesday. “Then I just helped around when I could with the coaching staff that was here (Florida) at that time, which was (Will) Muschamp.”

Trautwein interned in the weight room before becoming a graduate assistant at Boston College. He got his first job as a special teams coordinator at Davidson before returning to BC as the Eagles offensive line coach and later going to Penn State.

“I loved [my time at Penn State]. I really liked working with coach (James) Franklin,” he said of his time (2020-25) with Franklin, now the new Virginia Tech coach. “Being able to recruit and get guys that just love football was a good experience.”

Trautwein touched on the new landscape of college football. In the age of the transfer portal and NIL, offseason recruiting requires coaches to take a new approach to securing the next wave of players for programs across the country.

“I’m on the road right now, it kinda never slows down,” he said. “It’s just non-stop right now, it’s the portal, now it’s the high school [2027 and 2028 classes] and then February will be our team and getting ready for spring ball.”

Trautwein elaborated on how recruiting has changed since his playing days as a Gator: “It changed in a way. But if you can keep it the way I truly love it, which is building relationships and making sure that you get the right guys that wanna develop and be coached hard … having those types of kids and families is the way you can stay true to what college football is.

“If you’re looking for the highest bidder and to get the most money, I don’t want you to come to Florida.”

The full interview is available on WRUF – Home of the Gators YouTube.

Category: College Football, Gator Sports, Gators Football