SDS will look at new assistant coaches around the SEC, highlighting their accomplishments, achievements, history and tough tasks ahead of them. Up next, Florida’s Doug Nussmeier.

Doug Nussmeier, Florida Gators Offensive Coordinator

Coaching history:

  • 2001 BC Lions quarterbacks coach
  • 2002 Ottawa Renegades quarterbacks coach
  • 2003-05 Michigan State quarterbacks coach
  • 2006-07 St. Louis Rams quarterbacks coach
  • 2008 Fresno State offensive coordinator/QB coach
  • 2009-11 Washington offensive coordinator/QB coach
  • 2012-13 Alabama offensive coordinator/QB coach
  • 2014 Michigan offensive coordinator/QB coach

More or less known as a respected quarterback guru who has called plays for many successful offenses, Nussmeier was one of several essential hires in Gainesville for first-year Florida coach Jim McElwain, tabbed to change the direction of Gators football in due time.

During a two-year stint at Alabama before working on Brady Hoke’s staff at Michigan last season, Nussmeier worked closely with A.J. McCarron, helping the multi-year starter and two-time national champion develop into one of college football’s most confident passers, specifically in late-game situations.

Yet another coach produced by the Nick Saban tree, Nussmeier’s a gutsy play-caller who knows how to utilize his best weapons offensively — one of McElwain’s strengths, too. He won the Walter Payton award as a quarterback at Idaho in 1993 and is one of only five signal callers in NCAA history to throw for 10,000 yards and rush for at least 1,000.

Nussmeier knows the position well and should be Florida’s most stable OC, its fourth in four seasons, in some time. The most important question however is how much freedom will Nussmeier actually have in McElwain’s offense? Will the Gators’ uptempo attack be micromanaged? Doubtful.

McElwain will work closely with Nussmeier in determining Florida’s starting quarterback, then give allow free reign over much of the playbook. The spring practice battle between Treon Harris and Will Grier is an intriguing one and it’ll be up to Nussmeier to make his scheme fit the player.

Coordinator hires aren’t graded until after the season, but Nussmeier will be able to inject some flair into a previously anemic unit if McElwain allows.