Florida cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond knows how to command a room, be it the living room of a recruit or the meeting room of his position group.
Raymond’s presence is palpable regardless of square footage.
LSU’s 2017 Pro Day showcased generational talent — notably top-10 picks Leonard Fournette and Jamal Adams — and the SEC’s penchant to produce top NFL players. Yet on a day when NFL coaches Mike Tomlin and Sean Payton were among those in a packed house, Raymond’s late arrival at Charles McClendon Practice Facility caused a stir among players.
“As soon as he popped into the indoor facility you could just see how guys were gravitating to him,” Clay Mack, a longtime trainer of defensive backs, recalled. “Even the guys that he had on campus that played for him. All the guys started going up to him and hugging on him and loving on him.
“Even though I’m not in the building with him that tells me enough.”
Florida first-year head coach Billy Napier knew enough that within days of his Dec. 5 arrival he hired Raymond.
Raymond’s reputation, results and relationships give him gravitas and generate excitement among players, fans and even fellow coaches.
“He’s like the Yoda of DBs,” said Sean Spencer, the Gators’ co-defensive coordinator and line coach. “This guy has coached everybody. He walks in that room just so confident.”
Raymond’s energy, experience and cool exterior are infectious and influential.
He lured future stars Adams, Eli Ricks, Tre’Davious White, Donte Jackson, Kristian Fulton and Derek Stingley to LSU, where Raymond served from 2012-2021 at his alma mater.
“LSU is DBU [Defensive Backs University] because of Corey Raymond,” Steve Wiltfong, director of recruiting 247Sports, told the Sentinel. “His reputation is off the charts. Florida hired a good coach, an electric recruiter and took him away from a school that’s capable of at winning the same level.
“It was a massive hire.”
Raymond is a sliver-tongued salesman the Gators expect will bring Pied Piper appeal to Gainesville.
Once a player arrives, Raymond will develop him using a blend of tough love and technical mastery.
“It’s not just about going out there and playing,” Raymond explained. “It’s about learning the ins and outs of the position in different types of coverage, different types of footwork, where my eyes go. It’s just about developing that part of the guys.
“It’s going to take a little time getting used to me, who I am, because I’m hard to get along with out there on the field.”
After the final whistle blows, Raymond softens into a father figure a fledgling college athlete needs.
Mack, who coached Adams and White at his facility in Dallas, said Raymond’s ability to bond with players is a major selling point.
“These kids got to relate to their coach,” said Mack, a former defensive back at Mississippi State. “A lot of times these kids are not going to the college because of the college, they’re going because of the coach. They have to actually have a relationship with the coach and feel like the coach is in their corner.
“A lot of these kids have never been far away from home. Now they have to uproot themselves in live in another state, another city, another environment.”
Raymond was a two-year starter at LSU (1990-91) who went on to start 60 games during a six-year NFL career — three seasons each with the New York Giants and Detroit Lions.
The ability to connect with players traces even farther to Raymond’s pee-wee days and older cousin Jimmy Johnson, who introduced him to football and picked him up each day for practice.
Years later, Raymond still follows the example set by Merlin Wallet, his high school coach in New Iberia, Louisiana, and like Johnson no longer alive.
“I had a really good relationship with those guys,” Raymond said.
Raymond strives to do the same on an impactful, enduring level.
“You want to get to know the players because you expect them to give it all they got for you,” he said. “You have to make sure he knows he can trust.
“You get more out of person if you let them know that you care about them.”
Raymond brings a dash of personality and many years of parenting to the equation, too.
During a recruiting weekend in January, the 52-year-old coach impressed by flashing some moves, including a high kick, from his Omega Psi Phi step show days.
“That move is just one of my frat, me and two other coaches are my brothers,” Raymond said recently. “We were just doing our usual. We were just setting it out. We were just hopping.”
Despite his ability to channel James Brown, Raymond also must remain current, given he has four children ages 34 to 15.
“I got to be able to adjust with them,” he said. “It’s no different than dealing with the guys over here.”
Like that Pro Day at LSU, Mack has watched Raymond make all the right moves for a decade now and sees no sign he’s slowing down. The Gators are glad to be along for the ride.
“Whatever that formula is he came up with it works,” Mack said. “It’s magical to watch. Some people have a knack for it. Some people struggle for it.
“He’s mastered it.”
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Edgar Thompson at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @osgators.
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