mullen – Syndication Server

In a shocking turn of events from the end of September when Florida was 3-1 with their only blemish being a two-point loss against mighty Alabama, the Gators went just 2-5 since and fired Dan Mullen before their regular season finale against Florida State this week.

Where does Florida now turn for their next head coach?

Adam Dubbin of Gators Wire has put together a list of candidates for Florida to pursue and on it is a recent Notre Dame assistant and current Texas A&M defensive coordinator, Mike Elko.

Says Dubbin of Elko:

Jimbo Fisher made a big splash when he got Elko, the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, to follow him to College Station in 2018. Elko, 44, is considered one of the up-and-coming coaches in college football, and given the fact that he is leading his best defense, which ranks in the top 10, expect his name to come up quite a bit during the coaching carousel this offseason.

Elko is a good coach and could be a candidate for jobs like TCU, but given the importance of this hire for UF, it seems unlikely it chooses to go with a first-time head coach.

I’m with Adam in that line of thinking. I also remember the last time Florida hired a defensive coordinator from a Texas program who didn’t have any head coach experience and I can’t imagine doing that again would go over too well in Gator country.

See the latest on all FBS college football coaching hirings and firings in our 2021 coaching tracker

There has been a lot of shuffling in college football’s head coaching offices already this fall as 14 head coaches have been fired or resigned since the start of the season. That number will certainly grow as plenty remain on the hot seat late in the year, and eventually some up-and-comers will leave head posts for bigger jobs and will leave vacancies behind.

One place there will not be an opening for a head coaching position this off-season is at Notre Dame. You laugh (so did I, honestly) but someone felt the need to release that information as if it was some kind of breaking news over the past few days.

Brian Kelly will be returning as Notre Dame's coach quashing any speculation the big boys with openings were going to snatch him.

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) November 19, 2021

Other news to report at this time includes water remaining wet, the sky being blue, and Thanksgiving being the best holiday of the year.

And yes, I saw the “big boys” comment and will choose to ignore it, simply saying Kelly has headed one just five programs to appear in the College Football Playoff more than once.

(Kirby Smart will be making this six in two weeks)

There are certainly some prime openings and even if recruiting may be slightly easier at some of the programs that have openings, did anyone actually think Brian Kelly would be interested in leaving Notre Dame, where he’s spent the last 12 years and turned a major corner in recent years, to go rebuild a program elsewhere?

I just hope Kelly was able to milk a little more money for his assistants with any of the silliness that may have come from this.

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Tag: mullen

Former Notre Dame assistant a Florida possibility?

Brian Kelly to return to Notre Dame in 2022. Also: water = wet