Ron Roberts (born October 9, 1967) is an American football coach. He is the executive head coach, co-defensive coordinator, and linebackers coach, at the University of Florida, a position he has held since 2024. Roberts served as the head football coach at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi from 2007 to 2011 and Southeastern Louisiana University from 2012 to 2017.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Executive head coach, co-defensive coordinator, linebackers coach |
| Team | Florida |
| Conference | SEC |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | October 9, 1967 Visalia, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1986–1987 | Sequoias |
| 1988–1989 | Tennessee–Martin |
| Position(s) | Linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1990–1993 | Houston HS (TN) (DC) |
| 1994–1996 | Burroughs HS (CA) |
| 1997 | Greensboro (DC) |
| 1998–2002 | Tusculum (DC) |
| 2003 | Texas State (DC) |
| 2004 | Mt. Whitney HS (CA) |
| 2005–2006 | Delta State (DC) |
| 2007–2011 | Delta State |
| 2012–2017 | Southeastern Louisiana |
| 2018–2019 | Louisiana (DC) |
| 2020–2022 | Baylor (DC/ILB) |
| 2023 | Auburn (DC) |
| 2024–present | Florida (EHC/co-DC/LB) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 89-45 (college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 4 Gulf South (2007–2008, 2010–2011) 2 Southland (2013–2014) | |
| Awards | |
| 2× Gulf South Coach of The Year (2007, 2008) | |
Coaching career
Assistant coaching career
Roberts started his coaching career as the defensive coordinator at Houston High School in 1990.[1] From Houston, Roberts served as head coach at Burroughs High School from 1994 to 1996 before taking his first college job at Greensboro in 1997.[1] From Greensboro he served as defensive coordinator at both Tusculum (1998–2002) and Texas State (2003) before returning to the head coaching ranks at Mt. Whitney High School in 2004.[1] In January 2005 Roberts resigned his position at Mt. Whitney to serve as defensive coordinator at Delta State University[2] After the 2017 season at Southeastern, Coach Roberts accepted a defensive coordinator job with the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, his first coaching job at a Division I FBS level. Coach Roberts is the former defensive coordinator at Baylor University, where he led the #1 Scoring Defense in the Big 12 in 2021. At the conclusion of the 2022 season, Baylor head coach Dave Aranda announced that Roberts had been relieved of his duties.[3] Less than 2 weeks later, new Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze named Roberts the program's defensive coordinator.[4]
Head coaching career
After the resignation of Rick Rhoades on January 12, 2007, Roberts was promoted from his position of defensive coordinator to head coach. Through the 2011 season, Delta State has won four Gulf South Conference championships and played in the Division II playoffs in four of his five years as head coach reaching the 2010 NCAA Division II Championship Game where they lost to Minnesota–Duluth 20–17.[5]
After a successful tenure at Delta State, Roberts became Southeastern Louisiana University's fifteenth head coach on December 19, 2011.[6] He finished his first season with the Lions with an overall record of five wins and six losses (5–6).[7] On November 7, 2013, Roberts signed a three-year contract extension with the Lions.[7] With their victory over Sam Houston State on November 16, 2013, Southeastern Louisiana captured their first Southland Conference championship in program history.[8]
Head coaching record
College
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta State Statesmen (Gulf South Conference) (2007–2011) | |||||||||
| 2007 | Delta State | 10–2 | 8–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division II Second Round | ||||
| 2008 | Delta State | 10–2 | 8–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division II Quarterfinal | ||||
| 2009 | Delta State | 5–5 | 4–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 2010 | Delta State | 11–4 | 6–2 | T–1st | L NCAA Division II Championship | ||||
| 2011 | Delta State | 11–3 | 3–1 | 1st | L NCAA Division II Semifinal | ||||
| Delta State: | 47–16 | 29–7 | |||||||
| Southeastern Louisiana Lions (Southland Conference) (2012–2017) | |||||||||
| 2012 | Southeastern Louisiana | 5–6 | 5–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 2013 | Southeastern Louisiana | 11–3 | 7–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division I Quarterfinal | ||||
| 2014 | Southeastern Louisiana | 9–4 | 7–1 | T–1st | L NCAA Division I First Round | ||||
| 2015 | Southeastern Louisiana | 4–7 | 3–6 | T–8th | |||||
| 2016 | Southeastern Louisiana | 7–4 | 7–2 | 3rd | |||||
| 2017 | Southeastern Louisiana | 6–5 | 6–3 | 5th | |||||
| Southeastern Louisiana: | 42–29 | 35–14 | |||||||
| Total: | 89–45 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||