By Martha 
Florida is making moves to build its coaching staff for 2025, bringing in Washington’s Robert Bala as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, according to reports from CBS Sports and 247Sports.
Bala spent just one season at Washington as the inside linebackers coach, but before that, he was coaching linebackers at Alabama in 2023. During his time with the Crimson Tide, he worked with standout players like Dallas Turner and Deontae Lawson. Now, he’s heading back to the SEC to join Billy Napier’s staff at Florida.
Bala’s coaching journey started over a decade ago when he interned with the Oakland Raiders. He officially kicked off his college coaching career in 2017 as a special teams coach at Ottawa University (Kansas) before spending four years at Southern Utah, where he held multiple roles, including defensive coordinator. In 2022, he worked as an analyst at Liberty before making the leap to Alabama under Nick Saban.
After a short stop in the Big Ten with Washington, Bala is returning to the SEC, ready to make an impact with the Gators.