Gators hire Trojans OL coach Mike Summers

By Mike Brandes – OnlyGators.com Contributor

Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp on Monday announced the hiring of former USC Trojans offensive line coach Mike Summers to the same position.

Summers, who will replace Tim Davis and has 33 years of experience coaching the offensive line, previously worked under current Florida wide receivers coach Joker Phillips at Kentucky from 2010-12.

“I’m excited to have Coach Summers join our staff,” said Muschamp in a school release. “He has 34 years of experience, has been an offensive coordinator for 15 years and has coached in the SEC. He has a diverse background and has experience in the NFL. He will be a great addition to our staff.”

Bringing a wealth of knowledge and talent to the Gators coaching staff, Summers, 56, began his career as a graduate assistant at UK (1980-81) and Texas A&M (1982-84) before moving on to become the offensive coordinator for Northern Illinois (1985-90). He then left for Oregon State, where he worked as the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator from 1991-95, prior to taking over as assistant head coach/offensive coordinator at University of the South (1996-99).

Summers’s one year not coaching the offensive line came as tight ends coach at Oklahoma State. He then returned to manning the offensive line at Ohio (2001-02) before joining Bobby Petrino’s staff at Louisville (2003-06) and moving on with him to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in 2007.

When Petrino left Atlanta for Arkansas, Summers followed and added the title of assistant head coach, spending two more years coaching under him until Petrino got fired. He then moved on to coach the offensive line and coordinate the running game at Kentucky before heading to USC for just one season in 2013.

He was well-known at Louisville for helping low-rated prospects develop into NFL players. Summers notably coached up former two-star recruit Eric Wood into a Freshman All-American and who became the No. 28 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Summers is Muschamp’s third new hire this offseason, joining Duke offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper and New Mexico special teams coordinator/outside linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler, each of whom was hired to fill the same roles on Muschamp’s staff.

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