GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the end of his second season at Florida, Jim McElwain lost his first assistant to a better gig when defensive coordinator Geoff Collins departed to take the head coaching job at Temple. In both seasons under McElwain, the Gators leaned on their defense to win the SEC East. It’s no surprise that McElwain sought continuity in Randy Shannon, an experienced defensive coordinator and head coach who came over from Arkansas in 2015. More important, promoting Shannon gives the Florida coach flexibility in addressing his team’s biggest need: recruiting.

In first full recruiting cycle (2016) for McElwain and his staff, the Gators signed the No. 12 recruiting class. The ranking in and of itself isn’t terrible, but it was behind annual opponents Florida State (No. 2), LSU (No. 3) and Georgia (No. 8), as well as Alabama (No. 1), the team every school is chasing.

In many cases, a new coach’s second class, the first full year he gets to recruit as head coach, is supposed to produce a jump from the previous year. Recruitniks call it a “bump class.” Urban Meyer got one in 2006, as Florida’s recruiting went up from No. 12 in 2005 to No. 2 in Year 2. Will Muschamp got a bump class, too, as he signed the No. 4-ranked class in 2012, up from No. 11 the previous year.

McElwain’s staunch defenders say that recruiting has changed over the years, and that relationships are formed earlier than ever, therefore Florida fans need not worry about his signing the No. 21 class in 2015 (fallout from the Muschamp dismissal) and the No. 12 class a year ago. But with Kirby Smart loading up blue-chippers – No. 3 overall class, 19-of-23 commits rating 4 or 5 stars –it’s hard to defend McElwain’s second class because of a changing recruiting landscape.

Florida’s 2017 class ranks No. 19 overall and No. 8 in the SEC, again behind Georgia (No. 3), FSU (No. 5) and LSU (No. 7). This year, SEC East rivals Tennessee (No. 10) and South Carolina (No. 15) are also ahead of the Gators. McElwain seems to be unhappy with the status quo, as reports have linked the Gators to known recruiters on Alabama’s staff, analyst Mike Locksley and offensive line/tight ends coach Mario Cristobal.

With the defensive coordinator opening, McElwain could have potentially used Geoff Collins’ $890,000 salary to try to lure defensive assistants with proven recruiting chops like Alabama’s Tosh Lupoi or South Carolina’s Lance Thompson with the pitch of a raise and the chance to add the coordinator title to their resumes. When it comes to resumes, however, Shannon’s was hard to top.

After Shannon’s NFL playing career ended in 1990, he quickly got into college coaching. He first joined the Miami staff as a graduate assistant under Dennis Erickson in 1991 and was the linebackers coach by 1993. After four years coaching linebackers for the Hurricanes, Shannon made a switch to the pros, joining the Miami Dolphins’ staff for three years (1998-2000). When he came back to college coaching, it was as defensive coordinator for the Hurricanes from 2001-06. In five of those six years, including when Miami won the 2001 national championship, the ‘Canes defense was ranked in the top 10.

Many wondered if Shannon, the interim defensive coordinator for the Outback Bowl, would be comfortable calling a defense again for the first time since 2006. He was the head coach of the Hurricanes from 2007-10, and after his dismissal from UM, he has coached linebackers at TCU (2012), Arkansas (2013-14) and of course, Florida.

Shannon put those concerns to sleep, as the UF defense shutdown Iowa in a 30-3 win last week. In fact, it was the fewest points a Gators defense has allowed in a bowl game.

Now that McElwain can feel comfortable with the defense in Shannon’s hands., he can shift his focus on filling the open spot on his staff with a proven recruiter, and he’s not limited to defensive assistants. Promoting Shannon gives the Gators flexibility due to some of the current staffers’ past experience.

It’s worth noting that in Florida’s announcement of Shannon as the defensive coordinator, it does not mention if he will continue to coach linebackers, and that’s likely because McElwain might not know until he makes his next hire.

Two assistants who could easily be shuffled on the current staff are running backs coach Tim Skipper and wide receivers coach Kerry Dixon. Skipper has been coaching for 16 years, and 12 were spent as a defensive assistant. He has extensive experience coaching linebackers, including his three seasons at Colorado State alongside McElwain. If Skipper were to slide to linebackers coach, McElwain could fill the running backs spot with a new assistant or Dixon, who coached the position at FAU before joining the Florida staff.

All eyes are on the Gators’ next move, and the reports involving Locksley and Cristobal have fans anticipating a splash hire who will make an immediate impact on the trail. With the flexibility that Shannon, Skipper and Dixon give him, McElwain should be able to hit a home run.