Florida has had two assistants leave the team in little over a month, but coach Jim McElwain has yet to fill the vacancies on his staff. When Geoff Collins accepted the Temple head coaching job in December, McElwain made Randy Shannon interim defensive coordinator and temporarily moved analyst Mark DeBastiani to the on-field staff for the Outback Bowl.
He has since promoted Shannon to full-time defensive coordinator after the bowl game, but did not make a hire to fill Collins’ spot on the staff. On Saturday, offensive line coach Mike Summers left to become co-offensive coordinator at Louisville. With two open spots on staff during the recruiting homestretch, some fans are starting to wonder why McElwain and company are out on the trail without a full staff.
In comments that will disappoint some fans, athletic director Scott Stricklin reportedly hinted Tuesday night in Orlando that the new coaches may not join the staff until February, after National Signing Day (Feb. 1).
Stricklin apparently clarified that after Feb. 1 is not set in stone:
UPDATE: Stricklin then said "may" know something before Signing Day https://t.co/OFhoAN4PJ8
— David Waters – Gators Breakdown (@GatorDave_SEC) January 18, 2017
The AD himself responded to a fan’s interpretation of his comments:
That’s a gross misrepresentation of what I said. Simply said his focus is on recruiting.
— Scott Stricklin (@ScottStricklin) January 18, 2017
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
