Gators Looking for a Defensive Coordinator Again
Nearly two months ago, I put together a brief piece on possible defensive coordinator candidates for
Florida
. It was extremely brief because I only focused on the current defensive assistants already on the staff. This time around – thanks to
George Edwards’
departure for the NFL – that list may be even smaller.
Vance Bedford
has since followed
Charlie Strong
and is now the defensive coordinator at
Louisville
and new linebackers coach
D.J. Durkin
may need a few more years before being considered for coordinator openings. So from an internal perspective, that leaves us with…
Chuck Heater (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties) – What I said then: “Heater may have the advantage since he currently holds the role of assistant defensive coordinator. He also has been a coordinator before, spending two years in the role at Colorado State in the early 90s. As the Gators’ recruiting coordinator from 2005 to 2007, Heater has been tasked with bringing in top talent to Florida. Like Bedford, take one look at the current safeties on the roster and those committed to come to Florida in 2010 and you can clearly see how impressed kids are with Heater. Being able to keep the safety rotation as strong as it has been the past couple of years was no easy task, but Heater made it look so.” What I think now: I’d imagine Heater would have a natural progression to drop “co” from his title. At the time Florida was first looking, he was merely the assistant coordinator. Heater received the co-coordinator title when Edwards was hired and it seems logical he could have a leg up on the other candidates.
Dan McCarney (Assistant Head Coach, Defense/Defensive Line) – What I said then: “McCarney has the most high-level experience of the group. He was the head coach at Iowa State from 1995 to 2006. Before that, he was the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin for five years. Before coming to Florida in 2008, McCarney led the defensive line at USF. He’s overseen one of the best units in the nation in the Gators’ defensive line over the last two seasons. With the level of experience he’s had over his entire career, McCarney might hold a slight advantage over the other two.” What I think now: McCarney’s advantage has probably moved to Heater given the latter’s new title. Add to that speculation that McCarney didn’t want the job when Florida was looking after Strong left and McCarney may be comfortable staying where he is.
As for looking outside of the program, many believe if Urban Meyer was looking toward the NFL once, he will look again. And why not? Then again, with how quick Edwards went back to the pro ranks, Florida may stay within the college level this time around. Of course, apparently interim head coach Steve Addazio is leading the search and who knows which direction he’s taking it.
But here’s an interesting side note: per regulations, at least two minorities must be on a coaching staff. I had no idea of this rule until very recently (a few minutes ago to be honest with you), but it comes into play here. Basically if either Heater or McCarney were to be promoted to sole defensive coordinator, someone else would have to be hired for another role. So that puts a twist into. Not a bad one at all mind you, but just a twist that must be taken into account. With only three defensive assistants on the staff at the moment, hiring another coach despite promoting from within might be a good idea anyway.
Outside of the program, names like Bud Foster and Tyrone Nix already came up before, so don’t expect them to come up again. It might just seem like flat out begging at this point if the Gators were to go back to either of them, and if they said no once it would be surprising for them to do a 180 and say yes only a month later.
I’m still for staying in-house if possible, especially after being jilted on the external hire. But if Florida does go external, who do they go to? This time of year most would be pretty comfortable where they are. Of course, money and prestige talk. And the money coordinators in the SEC are getting these days is not bad at all.