Florida announced Friday that Randy Shannon has been promoted to defensive coordinator, as he sees the interim tag he held during the bowl game removed and fills the vacancy left by Geoff Collins, who left Gainesville to become Temple’s head coach.
“Coach Shannon has been a big part of our success over the last two years,” Florida head coach Jim McElwain said in a school release. “It’s been really cool to watch him handle his business. He really connects with our players and they have a lot of respect for him. More than being a great coach, he is a great mentor and teacher to these young men and that is one of our greatest measuring sticks as coaches.”
Added Shannon: “I appreciate the opportunity Coach Mac has given me to be the defensive coordinator at the University of Florida. We will continue to work together as we have the past two years to put together a plan so our players are in a position to be successful in football and in life.”
For the past two seasons, Shannon had served as Florida’s linebackers coach/co-defensive coordinator, as well as in a role as associate head coach.
Under Shannon’s watch during the Outback Bowl against Iowa, the Gators held the Hawkeyes to just three points – a lone field goal coming on a drive following an Austin Appleby interception that gave Iowa good field position – and limited them to just 226 total yards.
There are plenty of reasons why the promotion of Shannon make sense, as Inside the Gators detailed here a couple weeks ago. Players have also publicly endorsed Shannon for the job.
Currently, Florida has one vacancy on its coaching staff. UF's press release did not mention whether Shannon would continue to coach linebackers or another position.
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