Report: Five Florida assistants, including Shannon and Nussmeier, not retained

By Adam Silverstein
November 28, 2017
Report: Five Florida assistants, including Shannon and Nussmeier, not retained
Football

Image Credit: GatorVision

As new Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen remakes the coaching staff in his image, there are bound to be some significant changes.

Mullen has already figured out who will serve as co-offensive coordinators and defensive coordinator in his first Florida regime, but he still has seven other staff positions to figure out ahead of 2018.

According to SEC Country‘s Zach Abolverdi, Mullen has decided not to retain interim coach and former defensive coordinator Randy Shannon or offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier. Other assistants seeing the chopping block are special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Greg Nord, wide receivers coach Kerry Dixon II, defensive backs coach Corey Bell and replacement defensive line coach Robb Akey.

The remaining staff — defensive coordinator and former DL coach Chris Rumph, running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider, linebackers coach Tim Skipper and offensive line coach Brad Davis will reportedly remain on staff at this time, though their future employment remains up in the air.

Suffice to say, none of these moves is much of a surprise on its own. Nussmeier and Nord had to go, Dixon was not needed and with Bell there was simply a lack of familiarity. Shannon’s recruiting acumen was vastly overstated, and while he was a good representative of the Gators and loved by players, if it was not going to stay on as a position coach with a drastic reduction in salary, keeping him would not have made much sense.

The four remaining staffers are arguably Florida’s four best recruiting assistants. Seider and Rumph may be the most likely candidates to return as their positions are completely open on Mullen’s new staff at this time. Expected defensive coordinator Todd Grantham also coached linebackers for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and co-offensive coordinator John Hevesy also served as offensive line coach, though he was previously tight ends coach at UF. Co-offensive coordinator Billy Gonzales coached receivers.

Let’s take a look at a projected Florida coaching staff after the aforementioned moves, should nothing change.

Head coach: Dan Mullen
Co-offensive coordinator/passing game/WR: Billy Gonsales
Co-offensive coordinator/running game/TE (?): John Hevesy
Quarterback coach: TBD
Running backs coach: Ja’Juan Seider
Offensive line coach: Brad Davis
Defensive coordinator/LB (?): Todd Grantham
Defensive line coach: Chris Rumph
Linebackers or secondary coach (?): Tim Skipper
Special teams coordinator: TBD

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