Florida’s Muschamp looks to fill in coaching staff

By Adam Silverstein
January 1, 2011

With the hire of any new head coach there is usually extensive turnover on the previous coaching staff. According to various reports, things will not be much different for new Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp, who is expected to hire numerous coaches outside the current staff while only retaining a few members.

The Gainesville Sun reported Saturday that Muschamp has chosen to bring back running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Stan Drayton and linebackers/special teams coach D.J. Durkin, though their responsibilities may be adjusted in the new staff.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, whose sources confirmed Weis’s interest in Florida on Friday, reported Saturday that Miami Hurricanes wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Aubrey Hill has said he will leave Miami to coach under Muschamp even though new Hurricanes head coach Al Golden said 12 days ago that he would be retaining Hill.

A Miami, FL native, Hill is a Gators alum who played for head coach Steve Spurrier from 1991-94 when Florida won their first three Southeastern Conference Championships. He served as a graduate assistant under Spurrier from 1996-98 and has coached wide receivers since 1999 including stints at Duke (1999-2003), Elon (2004), Pittsburgh (2005-07) and Miami (2008-10). He served as the Hurricanes recruiting coordinator only for the 2010 season.

Though it has yet to be confirmed, Seattle Seahawks assistant head coach and defensive line coach Dan Quinn has emerged as the most talked about candidate to serve as the Gators next defensive coordinator. Muschamp noted that he wished to run a pro-style defense and was expected to find a candidate with NFL experience.

Quinn, who has coached in the NFL since 2001, served as defensive line coach when Muschamp was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins under then-head coach Nick Saban. That year Miami ranked 15th in total defense (19.8 points and 317.4 yards per game) but was second in quarterback sacks (49).

It is unknown what Muschamp plans to do with current Florida co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach Chuck Heater or tight ends coach Brian White, both of whom were expected by many to be considered for roles on the new coaching staff.

Offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Steve Addazio, who has been hired as head coach of the Temple Owls, will be replaced by Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Charlie Weis with an announcement expected for Monday. Associate head coach and defensive line coach Dan McCarney left the team before its bowl game to take the top job with the North Texas Mean Green

OGGOA will continue updating you on the Gators coaching staff situation as more information is made available.

12 Comments

  1. g8ter27 says:

    Sounds good to me. I wish there is a way he can keep Austin
    on in some capacity..maybe if he wants the secondary since that is
    where he was at Arizona but he probably will leave it not retained
    as DC. I think Driskel just hit the lottery though.

  2. Ken says:

    Hill is a HUGE get….it will really help us keep a
    presence in South Florida, and get more of those St. Thomas
    studs…

  3. Gatorgrad79 says:

    New year, fresh start….

  4. Gatorgrad79 says:

    Adam, if they give awards for web reporting, you deserve
    one for your herculan effort to provide news of all things Gator
    that is timely, relevant, entertaining, and ACCURATE, without
    prejudice! Hats off to you…

  5. Scooterp says:

    Hopefully Heater and White will be retained. White was one
    of our better recruiters and Heater has been instrumental in
    developing our secondary. Agree with Ken, picking up Hill will be
    huge with recruiting the Miami schools, St. Thomas and Dwyer. I
    don’t know how Weis will do with player development, but we know he
    can put together an offensive game plan. We’ve had the emotional,
    rah-rah personality guy leading the offense – I think I’ll go with
    an X’s and O’s coach now.

    • Dwyer is in West Palm and I think St. Thomas is in Fort Lauderdale – neither in Miami – BUT there are plenty of high schools in Miami that Florida has had a tough time tapping. I forget where but they did a good job of getting Trail and Dunbar last year out of the MIA.

  6. Jesse C says:

    I like bringing in Hill… I think it would be smart to keep Heater, he has done a lot for us. White was TE’s coach and they were a non-factor in the offense besides Hines running a reverse or two… so I won’t be hurt if he doesn’t get retained. I’m a little disappointed that DJ Durkin was retained. The Special Teams was down this year after Urban gave him the reins and the LB’s were horrible against the run this year. Confused on that one.

  7. David says:

    I also think Heater should be retained. We need someone who can develop safeties, especially considering our significant depth issues if Hill goes pro (stupid move). We would have Evans and Elam (assuming he doesn’t transfer) and that is IT!!. Finley was moved to LB and has been a disappointment.

  8. Scooterp says:

    never said they were in Miami, Adam. I said Miami schools,
    St Thomas and Dwyer – 3 separate locations. Anyways, my point was
    it will be nice to have someone familiar with the GREATER MIAMI
    AREA…………. David – Will Hill can’t seem to shake his
    knucklehead status, so maybe the NFL is where he ought to go. Jesse
    – Tough year at TE, but I would argue the biggest issue is they
    kept lining them up at every other position but tight end. A liitle
    difficult to develop someone at a particular position when the
    player your suppose to develop changes from week to week. I don’t
    even know who our TE was this year. Was it Reed? Was it Hines? Was
    it Burton?…………. And I could be wrong, but I believe it is
    White who seems to have opened up the recruiting pipeline to the
    west coast.

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