BATON ROUGE – Billy Gonzales, who spent the past five years coaching the wide receivers at Florida, has joined the LSU staff as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator, head coach Les Miles announced on Friday.
Gonzales replaces D.J. McCarthy on the LSU staff.
As passing game coordinator, Gonzales will work with offensive coordinator Gary Crowton in developing strategies for LSU’s passing attack.
“Billy comes to us with tremendous experience and great knowledge of the game,” Miles said. “We’ve played against Billy and we know first-hand how he prepares his players to play. His receivers were always tough, fundamentally sound and they were always very well prepared.
Prior to joining the LSU staff, Gonzales served under Urban Meyer since the 2001 season at Bowling Green. Gonzales coached for two years at Bowling Green before moving on with Meyer to Utah for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. Gonzales arrived at Florida in 2005, and during his five years with the Gators, he sent six players to the NFL Draft, including 2009 first round pick Percy Harvin and Chad Jackson, a second round selection by the New England Patriots in 2007.
In 2009, Gonzales helped the Florida offense rank first in the Southeastern Conference and 12th in the nation in total yards with 442 per game. The Gators averaged 217 passing yards per game.
