Joe Houston enters his second season with the Gators after being hired in the role of Senior Analyst GameChanger ahead of the 2024 season. Prior to the 2025 campaign, Houston was named special teams coordinator.
He comes to Gainesville from the New England Patriots after spending four seasons (2020-23) as a special team’s assistant.
In 2024, Houston helped guide Florida to a late-season charge, winning the last four games of the season to finish with an 8-5Â record overall, with victories over No. 21 LSU, No. 9 Ole Miss, Florida State and Tulane in the 16
th Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. The Gators were one of just six unranked teams in the nation to post multiple top-25 wins on the year.
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It was a tremendous season on special teams for Florida, as the unit ranked second in the nation in both the ESPN SP+ and FEI Special Teams rankings. The Gators also tied for the national lead in fewest blocked kicks and blocked punts allowed, ranked 11
th in net punting (42.37) and 18
th in punt returns (13.36).
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Individually, Rocco Underwood won the Mannelly Award for the best long snapper in the nation and earned Second-Team All-America accolades from the AFCA and Second-Team All-SEC honors, while punter Jeremy Crawshaw was named a Reese’s Senior Bowl All-American after finishing fifth in the nation in punting (45.7). Kicker Trey Smack ended the season ranked 24
th in the country in field goal percentage (.857). hitting 18-of-21 field goals, with a long of 55.
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Crawshaw ended his career as the program’s all-time leader in career punt average at 46.4. On the return side, Jadan Baugh was one of eight SEC players to own two 30-yard-plus kick returns and one of 11 freshmen in the FBS to do so. Out of Chimere Dike’s 14 returns, four of them went for 20-plus yards, making him one of 23 players in the FBS to accomplish the feat.
Prior to his stint in the NFL, Houston spent three seasons (2016-18) at Iowa State as both special team’s coordinator (2018) and associate for quality control (2016-17) and was an analyst for at Alabama for the 2019 campaign.
During his tenure, Cyclone kickers made 66/85 field goals attempts (77.6%) and had one first-team and one second-team All-BIG 12 special teams’ players. Iowa State had a number of players excel on special teams in 2018, including kickoff returner Kene Nwangwu. Nwangwu was a Second-Team All-
Big 12 kickoff returner after leading the Big 12 and ranking 12
th nationally in kickoff return average (26.8), the second-best clip in school history. Freshman Tarique Milton was also one of the best punt returners in the Big 12 in 2018, ranking third in the Big 12, averaging 12.67 yards per return.
Walk-on kicker Connor Assalley took over placekicking duties and excelled under Houston’s coaching. Assalley hit 16 field goals, tying for sixth on ISU’s season list, and began his career making his first eight field goal attempts, the fifth-best string in school history.
Houston was an associate for quality control for special teams from 2016-17, mentoring a pair of All-Big 12 kickers in Cole Netten (2016) and Garrett Owens (2017). Houston's work with Netten, a First Team All-Big 12 kicker, was evident. Netten broke the school record for field goal percentage (94.1 pct.) in a season, connecting on 16 of his 17 attempts.Â
Owens was an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 kicker in 2017, connecting on 77.3 percent (17-of-22) of his field goals for the fifth-best single-season percentage in school history. Owens’ 17 field goals made ranked 37
th nationally and tied for third on ISU’s season record book.
ISU’s special teams were phenomenal in Houston’s first two seasons. In 2016, true freshman Nwangwu averaged 26.35 yards per kickoff return, which ranked 15th nationally and was the fourth-best average in school history. In the season finale vs. West Virginia, Nwangwu ran back a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the third-longest return in school history. Nwangwu was named to a number of freshman All-America teams as a kick returner. Â
Trever Ryen was one of the best punt returners in the nation in 2016 and 2017, averaging 16.50 per return in 2016, the third-best average in school history. Ryen ranked 20
th nationally in punt return average (10.1) in 2017, ending his career with the fourth-best punt return average (13.4) in school history.
In his first season, Iowa State’s special teams units appeared in the top-35 of the national rankings in the following categories: punt return defense (No. 21, 4.40), kickoff returns (No. 27, 23.11) and net punting (No. 35, 38.88).
Houston also had stops at Toledo (2015) where he was a quality control assistant and El Camino College (2012-14) as special teams coordinator.
He played professionally for the Chicago Rush and Nebraska Danger of the Arena Football League (AFL). Houston tied the league record with 11 PATs in a game during the 2012 season.
A native of Redono Beach, California, Houston was a placekicker for the USC Trojans from 2007-10 after an All-American season at El Camino College in 2006. He earned the starting kicking duties in his redshirt senior season and went on to lead the team in scoring (73 points), making 10-of-16 field goals and a perfect mark with 43-of-43 PATs.
Coaching Experience
2025-Pres.    Florida, Special Teams Coordinator
2024Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Florida, Senior Analyst, GameChanger
2020-23Â Â Â Â Â Â New England Patriots, Assistant Coach, Special Teams
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Alabama, Special Teams Analyst
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Iowa St., Special Teams CoordinatorÂ
2016-17Â Â Â Â Â Â Iowa St., Quality Control Associate
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Toledo, Quality Control CoachÂ
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| NFL PLAYERS DRAFTED UNDER HOUSTON |
| 2025 |
6 |
Jeremy Crawshaw |
P |
Denver Broncos |
Florida |
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