Jay Bateman (born July 16, 1973) is an American football coach who is currently the inside linebackers coach for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

. He was previously the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A former Broyles Award finalist, he has also had assistant coaching stints at

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball C ...

, Army as well as a head coaching stint at Siena from 2000 to 2003.

Coaching career

After graduating from in 1995, Bateman went to work for a company that sold paper machinery. He got into coaching when the owner sold the company, working as an assistant coach at Benedictine High School in Richmond. He got his first job in the college ranks at

Hampden–Sydney College gr, Ye Shall Know the Truth , established = , type = Private liberal arts men's college , religious_affiliation = Presbyterian Church (USA) , endowment = $258 million (2021) , president = Larry Stimpert , city = Hampden Sydney, Virginia , cou ...

in 1997 as a graduate assistant, working with the defensive line and linebackers. He was named the defensive coordinator at

Siena College Siena College is an American private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York. Siena was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937. The college was named after Bernardino of Siena, a 15th-century Italian Franciscan friar and preacher. St ...

in New York in 1999, and was promoted to head coach in 2000. At the time of his promotion, he was said to be the youngest head coach in Division I football at 26. After the football program was shut down in 2003, he joined the coaching staff at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in 2004 as their assistant secondary coach, on a coaching staff that had future college and NFL assistants, such as Mike Elko, Patrick Graham, and Marcus Satterfield. He also had assistant coaching stints under Pete Lembo at

Lehigh Lehigh may refer to: Places United States *Lehigh, Iowa *Lehigh, Kansas *Lehigh, Oklahoma *Lehigh, Barbour County, West Virginia *Lehigh, Wisconsin *Lehigh Acres, Florida *Lehigh Township (disambiguation) *Lehigh Valley, a region in eastern Penns ...

, Elon, and

Army

Bateman was named the defensive coordinator at Army in 2014. He was suspended in 2017 when it was revealed that he had received improper information from former Wake Forest radio announcer Tommy Elrod. In addition to the suspension, he was also fined $25,000 and forced to attend an ethics training program. Bateman was named a finalist for the Broyles Award in 2018, the award given to the top assistant coach in

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

. In his tenure with Army, he improved the Black Knights defense from 91st overall in 2014 to 8th in the country in 2018.

North Carolina

Bateman was named the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at North Carolina on December 9, 2018. He and co-coordinator Tommy Thigpen oversaw the position change and development of former quarterback Chazz Surratt into an all-conference linebacker and NFL draftee and brought in several top defensive recruits to the program, being a key player in the Tar Heels' recruiting upswing. After three years leading the Tar Heel defense, Bateman and UNC agreed to part ways after the 2021 season, which featured the worst defensive unit of his tenure.

Florida

In January 2022, Bateman joined

Billy Napier William Hall Napier (born July 21, 1979) is an American football coach currently serving as head coach at the University of Florida. From 2017 until 2021, he served as head coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, amassing a 40–12 rec ...

's staff at Florida as the inside linebackers coach.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Bateman and his wife Heather have two children, Bea and C.J.. C.J. was diagnosed with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

in 2016. Bateman cited that one of the reasons he took the North Carolina job was because UNC and Duke are two of the biggest research institutions in the country and hoped to improve the quality of living for his son.

References

External links

*
Florida profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bateman, Jay 1973 births Living people American football linebackers Army Black Knights football coaches Ball State Cardinals football coaches Elon Phoenix football coaches Florida Gators football coaches Hampden–Sydney Tigers football coaches North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets football players Siena Saints football coaches High school football coaches in Virginia Sportspeople from Richmond, Virginia Coaches of American football from Virginia Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia