Florida Gators assistant Matt McCall officially named head coach at Chattanooga

By Adam Silverstein
April 12, 2015

Updated Sunday at 10:15 p.m.

Florida Gators assistant basketball coach Matt McCall will be named the next head coach of the Chattanooga Mocs, two sources confirmed to OnlyGators.com on Sunday evening.

McCall, a former Florida student manager, head manager and director of basketball operations, returned to the Gators as an assistant coach in 2011 after a stint at Florida Atlantic and has spent the last four seasons with the program.


The opportunity at Chattanooga will be his first as a head coach as he replaces Will Wade, who left to take the VCU job.

ESPN‘s Jeff Goodman first reported McCall’s new position earlier Sunday.

McCall will be just the latest assistant under Billy Donovan to depart for a head coaching job, following in the footsteps of John Pelphrey (South Alabama, Arkansas), Donnie Jones (Marshall, UCF), Anthony Grant (VCU, Alabama), Shaka Smart (VCU, Texas) and Richard Pitino (FIU, Minnesota).

Pelphrey returned to Florida (after being fired by Arkansas) along with McCall in 2011-12. Grant was released from his Alabama contract this offseason and is a no-brainer replacement for McCall should Donovan want to bring his friend back.

Update: UT-Chattanooga officially announced McCall as its head coach late Sunday evening.

“My family and I could not be happier,” McCall said in the school’s release. “I would like to thank David Blackburn and Dr. Angle for this opportunity. It takes a special place for me to leave the University of Florida and that is exactly what we see in Chattanooga.”

Donovan also provided a statement to the Mocs: “Matt has done a tremendous job for the University of Florida and he will deeply be missed. I knew it would take a special situation for Matt to leave, and without question, Chattanooga is a great opportunity. The Mocs are getting a great coach and an even better person. Matt will do a tremendous job.”

3 Comments

  1. SW Fl Joe says:

    Please come home Anthony

  2. uf_84 says:

    Congratulations Coach McCall. Welcome back to Gainesville Anthony Grant.

  3. SB says:

    Talked to Matt a few times while in Bahamas last Thanksgiving. Easy to talk to and treated a random fan like me in a way that made me proud he was a coach for us. He’ll do great in Chattanooga and probably move up to an even bigger job in a handful of years. Happy for him.

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