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Florida is close to finalizing the hire of Wesley McGriff as a new defensive assistant, as was first reported by Football Scoop.
If true, the Gators will be hiring McGriff away from Auburn, where he served as secondary coach the last two seasons under now-fired Gus Malzahn. Prior to his role at Auburn, he served as the defensive coordinator for Ole Miss from 2017-18. He had also served as a recruiting coordinator at Vanderbilt and was an NFL defensive backs coach with the New Orleans Saints for three years from 2013-15.
McGriff has deep ties to the SEC, but he also has some Sunshine State ties, as well. He was the defensive backs coach at Miami from 2007-10.
It’s unclear which open assistant spot he will fill (coach Dan Mullen fired cornerbacks coach Torrian Gray and safeties coach Ron English following the Cotton Bowl loss), but Football Scoop also reported that UF is looking at former Gators defensive coordinator and Texas head coach Charlie Strong, Texas defensive coordinator Chris Ash, and Pittsburgh safety coach Cory Sanders.
Horns247 reported that Ash, a former head coach at Rutgers, is in talks with Florida about a role as safeties coach and defensive coordinator, which would seem to indicate that McGriff is being considered for the cornerbacks coach role.
Mullen reportedly wants to finalize both assistant coach hires in the coming days.
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