Brent Pease hired as Florida Gators offensive coordinator, move to be announced Wednesday

By Adam Silverstein
January 10, 2012

Boise State Broncos offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brent Pease has been hired and will officially be named to the same position with the Florida Gators on Wednesday, according to reports published Tuesday by ESPN and The Gainesville Sun.

Pease, who OGGOA first reported was in Gainesville, FL last Friday meeting with head coach Will Muschamp and University of Florida administration about the vacant position on the coaching staff, stayed in town over the weekend but was expected to meet with Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban about his team’s offensive coordinator job on Tuesday following his team’s participation in the BCS title game. Pease wound up cancelling that interview, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Sources told OGGOA Thursday evening that all indications pointed to Pease being named the Gators’ next offensive coordinator last Friday. He and his wife flew into Orlando, FL in the afternoon and were driven up to Gainesville to accept the job offer, but his hesitation in accepting and wanting to first speak with Saban derailed that plan.

The AP further reports that the terms of Pease’s initial contract with UF are for three years at approximately $500,000 annually.

A member of Boise State’s staff since 2006, Pease has served as the team’s wide receivers coach (2006-10), assistant head coach (2007-10) and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2011). Prior to his stint with BSU, he was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Baylor (2003-05), Kentucky (2001-02), Northern Arizona (1999-2000) and Montana (1996-98).

In his one year as offensive coordinator, Pease’s Broncos finished ninth in total offense (481.3 yards), fifth in scoring offense (44.2 points), 40th in rushing offense (171.9 yards) and 11th in passing offense (309.4 yards)

He will join a Florida team looking to improve its offense in a major way. The Gators were ranked No. 105 in total offense at the conclusion of the 2011-12 season, gaining just 328.7 yards per game. Florida was 71st nationally in scoring offense (25.5 points), 73rd in rushing offense (143.0 yards) and 89th in passing offense (185.7 yards).

Pease was hired to be offensive coordinator at Indiana for the 2011 season but wound up heading back to the Broncos two weeks later when head coach Chris Petersen offered him a promotion after a vacancy was created when Bryan Harsin left for Texas.

Pease and Muschamp crossed paths in 2001 and 2002 when the former was with Kentucky and the latter with LSU. Muschamp’s team was victorious in both games but just barely, beating UK 29-25 in 2001 and 33-30 in 2002. The second victory is known as the “Bluegrass Miracle” in which LSU, the road team, tossed a 74-yard game-winning touchdown with no time remaining on the clock.

A former starting quarterback at Montana (1985-86), Pease spent four years toiling around the NFL but only officially made the Houston Oilers’ roster (1987-88). He also played for two teams in the World League of American Football (1991-92) as well as for the Arena Football League’s Cincinnati Rockers (1993).

34 Comments

  1. ulysses1221 says:

    Hell yeah. This is a great hire and i cant wait to see the offense next year. Pease brings a huge offensive notebook and i expect him to burn some defenses next year. I expect recruits to love this hire as much as i do, because Muschamp just got a new toy and i cant wait to see him in motion. Its turning out to be a great offseason. GO GATORS.

    • Gatorgrad79 says:

      Adam, The reprint of the previous story with a new title is slightly confusing. IS PEASE MEETING WITH SABAN TUESDAY?! If so, and he gets an offer, does anyone really expect he wouldn’t be another “decommitt” to coach a possible back to back national champ at bama??

  2. Marc Mac says:

    I can’t wait to see how the recruiting class shakes out now. I hope we utilize Gillislie and Matt Jones effectively sending the former out with a great senior season and the latter exploding onto the SEC scene.

  3. Roger Wagoner says:

    Does even call the plays at Boise St? Don’t they run a spread offense? I’d rather have Kerwin Bell but maybe they will hire Bell after they fire Muschamp because this a horrible hire!

  4. g8ter27 says:

    Well we have a couple of offensive recruits waiting to see what we do with the OC so lets see how this decision goes with them.

    • g8ter27 says:

      And for all the negative thinking people out there right now just think about this for a silver lining: how many times did you worry “man I sure hope he doesn’t come out and go to the NFL early this year”? Exactly, that is one thing we are used to that was a non issue this year/ Ha

  5. G8Rgrad98 says:

    Horrible hire? I don’t understand that since Saban was after him too… Also kellen Moore had 3800 passing yards last year, those numbers indicate a heavy pass oriented pro style offense to me.

  6. Gatorbite83 says:

    No They Don’t run a spread!!! Why would Muschamp hire a OC that dosent run the type of offense he prefers “STOP IT”(Mike Ditka Voice)

  7. So is he supposed to be quarterbacks coach here too or are we still hiring?

  8. MAR says:

    Dont like the hire. But I will be optimistic in that I will give him a chance to prove himself, 2 years max to win me over. Kerwin or Brian Schott. were my tip choices.

  9. Gatorbuck says:

    Should we wait until we’re past the “report” stage to assume it’s a done deal?

  10. Tractorr says:

    If he is successful he will not be around long. Think about why he would pick Florida over Alabama. Florida has been struggling offensively the last few years. If he is able to bring the offense back he will have an HC job and probably a good one at that.

    I am not complaining but he is not a long term solution, 3 years tops.

    • g8ter27 says:

      I agree if he s successful here he is only here 3 years tops but that would be the same no matter who we get. Brina White would get a HC job, so would Kerwin (yes even Kerwin would leave for a D1 HC job). Boise has the same problem, so does every successful team. rarely does your OC doing the worst job in the NCAA and get a HC job, but somehow Charlie did just that.

      • Tractorr says:

        Kansas just needed a big name to get the dough eyed farm boys to come there. Plus if they can get half decent QB which Weis may attract they could be a competitive team. The motivation for a team like Kansas is very different than that of an SEC team.

      • MAR says:

        Don’t agree that Kerwin wouldn’t be around long I think he would love being a gator and stick around if he thought he had a chance to be the HC. I think Kerwin will prove himself elsewhere and and end up a gator someday anyhow.

  11. Mr2Bits says:

    Love the hire. Think this will really start to open up our offense and flush the perverbial toilet on the spread. WR’s will now love to come to this offense and hopefully backs will follow knowing we might be able to score more than 50 points

  12. Gatorbuck says:

    Okay, “report” removed from article title. Can officially love the hire now!
    Now hopefully land a few key skill players, then start putting together plans for next season. Any variation of Boise State offense would be huge leap. I’m pumped!

  13. aziatic41 says:

    I love the hire. All of you guys who are crying apparently have a lack of knowledge of the college football game. Losing coaches from a winning team is what happens in this day in age. So of course if we have success, teams are going to come knocking at the door for his services. Pease is great offensive mind, why do you think Alabama went after him? Nick Saban is a hell of a coach and discipline old school guy. He would not go after an artificial coach. Boise St ran a very successful pro-style offense with this guy. He will bring a lot to the table with the athletes we have at UF. Great hire by Muschamp!!

  14. GG says:

    This is a great hire, look how many points BS has been scoring the past 5 years. Expect this will get a few offensive studs that might otherwise pass given all the turmoil.

  15. Eli says:

    Anyone who doesn’t like this hire should pack their bags and move to Tallahassee. This is a terrific move for our program. He helped orchestrate a truly effective and dangerous offense at a nationally competitive program. I fully expect the Gators to land one or two more big offensive recruits before NSD. He’s going to transform this offense. Cannot wait to see what he’s doing at the O&B game.

  16. Ken (CA) says:

    Love this hire, much better than Weis was a year ago..I didn’t like that hire much and said as much. This guy has a great track record for developing talent and a great offensive mind.

    Remember, pro-style offense doesnt have to be grind it up the middle all the time. Fun and Gun was a pro-style offense. West Coast offense is a pro offense, all feature effective passing games, they just balance more and run fewer option type plays.

  17. Oldflyer says:

    I too am excited about the hire. He has the credentials, in that he has been in the seat himself, and he spent the past five years learning under Petersen.

    People get so delusional. Why would Schotty the younger, who is mentioned every day for an NFL HC position, come to Gainesville? IF he did what would he bring? We tried the NFL guru bit. I may differ from many, apparently to some extent the Champ himself, but I like college coaches coaching college. We are told frequently that the Pros and college ain’t the same game, and I believe it. I think in many respects the college game, given the constraints, is tougher to coach.

    On the other end of the scale there is the “no one but Kerwin crowd”. Sigh.

    Champ made his choice. I happen to believe he made a good one and I will support his choice as hard as I can.

  18. Roger Wagoner says:

    We will see not that excited about it but hey he’s getting his chance and if Saban wanted him got to believe he’s okay. We need those 2 stud WR recruits, hopefully now we can land them but we still need a QB!

  19. jay d says:

    lol you guys have us going to the sec champ game next year with this miracle fix……….first off, yes…..it is a sexy hire and it all sounds great…..but lets not forget the teams BS plays on their schedual….he may be the next big thing ….but he has his work cut out for him…and hopefully he concentrates on actually being a part of gator nation and not his next stop as a HC because that will end badly for both parties….I will not be jumping on the band wagon right away…I wanna see results……also…there is only one nick saban…so lets stop trying to compare and dream of muschamp becomming his clone because it is not going to happen….muschamp needs to find his own identity ……….let alone learn how to win some important games first before he can be even considered a quality coach/fit for florida…

    • g8ter27 says:

      Well we do need to wait and see i guess with Pease but he should bring in big recruits this year and help our really good young qbs. And he did beat Georgia this year i Atlanta which is more than Weiss can say sadly. If Peterson would have recruited a kicker we would have watched them play last night against LSU.

    • Gatorgrad79 says:

      Agree – Pease will have lots to prove against defenses tougher than the Mountain West.

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