Here is the latest on the OC situation
The powers that be made one more run at George Godsey, I'm not even sure that Geoff Collins was involved but he got turned away.
Zach Kittley basically has his choice of options at the moment, Texas Tech is considered the frontrunner there and a bidding war broke out among multiple schools showing interest including the Jackets, Auburn, Miami and at least one other school. Auburn is likely getting Zak Hill from Arizona State and Texas Tech Kittley.
That moves us to Chip Long who BDB mentioned earlier today, I'd put him as my odds on favorite to get the job and several sources think he is the front runner but it is not done. He was nearly hired twice before as this was not the first time that Collins pondered an OC change, Long could've been here a year ago or two years ago as OC. He has been high on his list of potential OCs for a while. Every coach has a list of guys in case someone leaves, gets fired or they need to upgrade and Collins thinks very highly of Long. Chip Lindsey was another option but is a little less of a fit IMO right now.
I do not expect a sitting NFL assistant to be in the mix for the final two assistant spots for multiple reasons so scratch Taver Johnson or Giff Smith or whatever guy you all want to put up.
The two remaining spots could go DB and special teams coach or a split DB coach CB/S spots. That depends on who the hire is. I've heard a lot less about this because it is lower profile and Collins obviously knows a ton of people in that field. Collins per my sources is going to run the defense himself this year betting on himself and his ability as a defensive coordinator which makes sense when his back is against the wall and they need to win. The hires will be people to help shoulder the load and that is why I expect a special teams coach because Collins was shouldering a lot of that on himself and if he is going to work with the D he has to pass that off to another person.
This part is really speculation on my part, I haven't been able to pin much info down on this part of the search:
Brandon Harris who was the CB coach at FIU under Butch Davis before that staff was let go, he was a top DB recruit and a NFL draft pick from the U in Miami and has ties to the Miami area for recruiting purposes to help fill the void left by Pop's departure.
A name I get asked about a lot if Wesley McGriff and I can see why, I think Napier tries to keep him with the Gators, but we shall see. He split the DB duties at Florida wih Jules Montinar who would be a good fit as well as a strong recruiter if you wanted to take both guys.
Torrian Gray would be a better fit who worked for Geoff at Florida, however he has a solid gig with South Carolina right now as the full DB coach. A co-DC title could be interesting
Randy Shannon is another guy floating around, I have no knowledge of how Collins and Shannon got along as co-DCs at Florida and there would be some upset GT donors who really dislike Shannon, but it is worth noting he is not in an on the field capacity at the moment and is someone who would fill a void however his specialty is coaching LBs and GT has a LB coach and co-DC already in Andrew Thacker who is not going anywhere right now.
The special teams guys is beyond my skillset to figure out. They can be random hires like the two guys PJ found. The only one with ties to Collins is Ed Foley who is working in the NFL now.
On the transfer portal, here are some guys to keep an eye on that GT is kicking the tires on some more than others: Some thoughts on a few of the guys, listed in alphabetical order:
LB- Eugene Asante (UNC)
QB Harrison Bailey (Tennessee)
CB- Marcus Banks (Alabma)
TE- Luke Benson (Syracuse)
WR- Jake Bobo (Duke)
LB- Jackson Bratton (Alabama)
WR- Elijah Canion (Auburn)
LB- Geoffrey Cantin-Arku (Syracuse)
LB- Terrence Cooks (Texas)
OL- Miles Frazier (FIU) everyone is on this guy
QB- Zach Gibson (brother of GT commit Tyler Gibson) as a potential replacement for Yates and someone to compete with the younger QBs, like a plussed-up Trad Beatty. Buys time for guys like Pyron or Peery to develop.
OL- Tylan Grable (Jacksonville State)
DB- M.J. Griffin (Temple) we covered him yesterday in depth.
LB- Bradley Jennings (Miami)
DE- Ryan Johnson (Stanford)
OL- Parker Moorer (West Virginia)
DB- Koby Perry (Austin Peay) DPOY in his conference
OL- Pierce Quick (Alabama) Key's relationship is big here and they need OL depth immediately and he would be able to comepte for a starting job on the Flats.
LB- Colby Reeder (Delaware)
OL- Paul Tchio (Clemson) we've written a lot about him
DT- Kobie Turner (Richmond)
The powers that be made one more run at George Godsey, I'm not even sure that Geoff Collins was involved but he got turned away.
Zach Kittley basically has his choice of options at the moment, Texas Tech is considered the frontrunner there and a bidding war broke out among multiple schools showing interest including the Jackets, Auburn, Miami and at least one other school. Auburn is likely getting Zak Hill from Arizona State and Texas Tech Kittley.
That moves us to Chip Long who BDB mentioned earlier today, I'd put him as my odds on favorite to get the job and several sources think he is the front runner but it is not done. He was nearly hired twice before as this was not the first time that Collins pondered an OC change, Long could've been here a year ago or two years ago as OC. He has been high on his list of potential OCs for a while. Every coach has a list of guys in case someone leaves, gets fired or they need to upgrade and Collins thinks very highly of Long. Chip Lindsey was another option but is a little less of a fit IMO right now.
I do not expect a sitting NFL assistant to be in the mix for the final two assistant spots for multiple reasons so scratch Taver Johnson or Giff Smith or whatever guy you all want to put up.
The two remaining spots could go DB and special teams coach or a split DB coach CB/S spots. That depends on who the hire is. I've heard a lot less about this because it is lower profile and Collins obviously knows a ton of people in that field. Collins per my sources is going to run the defense himself this year betting on himself and his ability as a defensive coordinator which makes sense when his back is against the wall and they need to win. The hires will be people to help shoulder the load and that is why I expect a special teams coach because Collins was shouldering a lot of that on himself and if he is going to work with the D he has to pass that off to another person.
This part is really speculation on my part, I haven't been able to pin much info down on this part of the search:
Brandon Harris who was the CB coach at FIU under Butch Davis before that staff was let go, he was a top DB recruit and a NFL draft pick from the U in Miami and has ties to the Miami area for recruiting purposes to help fill the void left by Pop's departure.
A name I get asked about a lot if Wesley McGriff and I can see why, I think Napier tries to keep him with the Gators, but we shall see. He split the DB duties at Florida wih Jules Montinar who would be a good fit as well as a strong recruiter if you wanted to take both guys.
Torrian Gray would be a better fit who worked for Geoff at Florida, however he has a solid gig with South Carolina right now as the full DB coach. A co-DC title could be interesting
Randy Shannon is another guy floating around, I have no knowledge of how Collins and Shannon got along as co-DCs at Florida and there would be some upset GT donors who really dislike Shannon, but it is worth noting he is not in an on the field capacity at the moment and is someone who would fill a void however his specialty is coaching LBs and GT has a LB coach and co-DC already in Andrew Thacker who is not going anywhere right now.
The special teams guys is beyond my skillset to figure out. They can be random hires like the two guys PJ found. The only one with ties to Collins is Ed Foley who is working in the NFL now.
On the transfer portal, here are some guys to keep an eye on that GT is kicking the tires on some more than others: Some thoughts on a few of the guys, listed in alphabetical order:
LB- Eugene Asante (UNC)
QB Harrison Bailey (Tennessee)
CB- Marcus Banks (Alabma)
TE- Luke Benson (Syracuse)
WR- Jake Bobo (Duke)
LB- Jackson Bratton (Alabama)
WR- Elijah Canion (Auburn)
LB- Geoffrey Cantin-Arku (Syracuse)
LB- Terrence Cooks (Texas)
OL- Miles Frazier (FIU) everyone is on this guy
QB- Zach Gibson (brother of GT commit Tyler Gibson) as a potential replacement for Yates and someone to compete with the younger QBs, like a plussed-up Trad Beatty. Buys time for guys like Pyron or Peery to develop.
OL- Tylan Grable (Jacksonville State)
DB- M.J. Griffin (Temple) we covered him yesterday in depth.
LB- Bradley Jennings (Miami)
DE- Ryan Johnson (Stanford)
OL- Parker Moorer (West Virginia)
DB- Koby Perry (Austin Peay) DPOY in his conference
OL- Pierce Quick (Alabama) Key's relationship is big here and they need OL depth immediately and he would be able to comepte for a starting job on the Flats.
LB- Colby Reeder (Delaware)
OL- Paul Tchio (Clemson) we've written a lot about him
DT- Kobie Turner (Richmond)
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