Samantha Palmer enters her second season with the Gators, previously working as a volunteer assistant coach with the program. Palmer came to Florida from Alabama, where she spent the previous five years as a volunteer assistant coach working with distance runners. During her time at Alabama, the Crimson Tide Women's cross-country team finished first at the 2022 SEC Cross Country Team Championship and third finish at the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Championships. At the 2022 NCAA Championships, four Alabama runners finished in the top-20.

 Prior to Alabama, Palmer was an Assistant Coach at the University of Toledo where she coached 17 NCAA East Prelims qualifiers and two All-Americans on the track. In Cross Country, Palmer help lead the women's team to a MAC Championship and thirtieth place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2014 and a runner-up finish at the MAC Championships and a ninth-place finish in the Great Lake region in 2017. She was named the 2018 MAC Outdoor Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year and has coached a total of 25 top-5 finishers.

As a runner, Palmer was a member of the Iowa State track & field team. She qualified for the USA Marathon Olympic Trials in 2016 and 2020 and the USA Track and Field Olympic Trials in the 10,000m in 2020.

"Sam [Palmer] will assist Coach Will Palmer with Cross Country and the distance events. She brings a great knowledge of the sport to the staff," said Holloway.