D
ave Caldwell is back with a football organization. Over five years after the Jacksonville Jaguars fired Caldwell as their general manager, the longtime NFL executive has landed a new role– one that is different than anything he has ever done before. On the same day that the Florida Gators hired Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall as their next head coach, the school also hired Caldwell to serve as the football program’s general manager.
The move comes at a time when the role of a general manager has become much more common in college sports. Notably, the Stanford Cardinal became the first team to hire a full-time football general manager when they hired former NFL star Andrew Luck. Since then, many other programs have done the same thing, with the Gators now becoming the latest example.
Caldwell’s Career as an Executive
Starting his front office career as a scouting assistant with the Carolina Panthers in 1996, Caldwell worked his way up and by 2008, he served as the director of college scouting for the Atlanta Falcons. In 2012, Caldwell become the director of player personnel and after a dominant season by the Falcons that saw them make it all the way to the NFC Championship Game, he was hired to be the Jaguars general manager in 2013, a role he remained until November of 2020.
During his time as the Jaguars’ general manager, Caldwell replaced head coach Mike Mularkey with Gus Bradley but after Bradley failed to find any sort of success, Doug Marrone took his place. Under Marrone’s tutelage from 2016-20, the franchise only had one winning season that came in 2017– but one that was most remembered for a dominant defense that led the Jaguars all the way to an AFC Championship Game appearance. Since 2021, Caldwell has served as a personnel executive for the Philadelphia Eagles— winning Super Bowl LIX last season.
Caldwell’s Role with Florida
In a college sports world where the transfer portal and NIL opportunities are the new normal, college athletics have started taking a more professional approach to how they run, which is why general managers have become increasingly more common. Caldwell’s job will be to deal with all aspects of football operations, from recruiting to NIL stuff to everything in between. That means that Sumrall will not have to worry as much about roster-building and can focus more on coaching the X’s and O’s.
Once one of the most dominant teams in college football throughout the 1990s and 2000s– winning national titles in 1996, 2006 and 2008– the Gators have since endured inconsistencies in recent seasons. Finishing 4-8 in 2025, the Gators did win a bowl game last season, but have not won double digit games since 2019. Hiring Sumrall and Caldwell, the Gators hope that the duo can revive the program and turn them back into a national powerhouse.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Former Jaguars General Manager Lands a New Role in College Football appeared first on Heavy Sports.