GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida is bringing a familiar face home to coach on Dan Mullen's staff in 2019.

The Gators announced that they have hired former Washington Redskins defensive backs coach Torrian Gray to coach cornerbacks. Gray coached at Florida on Jim McElwain's staff in 2016 before leaving for a job with the Redskins.

Now he returns to Gainesville.

"Obviously, Torrian brings a high level of familiarity with our program and the Southeastern Conference," Mullen said in a press release. "His track record of preparing players for the NFL and his success coaching at that level speaks for itself. Meanwhile, with his strong recruiting ties to the state of Florida and the fact that he played for coach (Todd) Grantham in college will make this transition seamless."

A 19-year coaching veteran, Gray has spent the majority of his time at the college level after a long stint at Virginia Tech from 2006-15. A Lakeland native, Gray took the Florida job in 2016 originally to get closer to home.

"This was simply a career opportunity and chance to return home to my Florida roots that my family couldn’t pass up," Gray said at the time.

Of course, when the NFL came calling, Gray sensed another opportunity he had to explore. Now, though, he's happy to get the chance to return to Gainesville.

He has an extremely impressive track record, having coached the likes of Kam Chancellor, Brandon Flowers, Victor Harris, Jayron Hosley, Kyle Fuller and Kendall Fuller at Virginia Tech, along with Jalen Tabor and Quincy Wilson at Florida.

He'll get the chance to work with more future studs at Florida, with cornerbacks CJ Henderson and Marco Wilson two of the Southeastern Conference's best and Trey Dean emerging as a potential future star as a true freshman in 2018.

A couple Florida players began responding to news that Gray appeared to be a new hire for Mullen's staff on social media on Monday. Tweeted cornerback Marco Wilson, whose brother spent a year playing for Gray: "LETS GO."

Freshman defensive back Jaydon Hill added: "DBU just got better."

Gray initially expressed that location was a huge factor in him originally leaving Virginia Tech for Florida back in 2016. That likely played a significant role in his decision to rejoin the Gators this time around.

“I have my mother, I’ve got three brothers and three sisters – seven (immediate family members close),” he said in 2016. “It’s pretty neat to be able to be two-and-a-half hours away. We’ve got a 10-month-old my mom has not been around a lot, or my brothers and sisters. So, they’ll get to see her a lot more. They’re excited about that. I still have friends that are back home in Lakeland that are happy for me, and going to want some tickets I guess. It’s pretty good to be back.

“I just know when they showed an interest and I had an opportunity to have a chance to come here, I was ecstatic about that. Like I said, it’s the University of Florida, it was an opportunity to leave Virginia Tech, a school that I love, my alma mater. To come home to here was just exciting to me to have that opportunity.”