Bateman, 50, has worked his way up the collegiate ranks from Sienna to Richmond and Lehigh, then spent four years (2006-10) at Elon as the defensive coordinator and inside linebacker coach. He moved on to Ball State in 2011 and spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator there.

Bateman’s reputation really took off from his work with the Black Knights, where he turned a team with limited talent into one of the nation’s best. In 2013, Army was 107 in turnovers gained, 107th in sacks, 109th in tackles for loss and 103rd in rush defense. Three years later, the Black Knights were fourth nationally in total defense, sixth in passing defense, and 16th in scoring defense. That performance was enough to make Bateman a Broyles Award semifinalist. He was a finalist in 2018, when Army was eighth nationally in total defense and 10th in scoring defense.

After the 2018 season, he joined the staff at North Carolina under Mack Brown as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Once again, Bateman triggered a major improvement in the defense. In 2017, the Tar Heels were horrible defensively: 105th in total defense, 107th in scoring defense and 111th in rushing defense. A year later, they were 49th in total defense, 44th in scoring defense and 51st in rushing defense.

While Florida’s defense has struggled mightily the last two years under Billy Napier, They still had a highly opportunistic group in 2022. The Gators led the SEC with 24 turnovers forced and were 11th nationally with a turnover margin of +10.

In addition to serving at defensive coordinator, Bateman will also coach the linebackers. A native of Virginia, Bateman has a reputation as being one of the best recruiters in the nation, especially on the East Coast.