Shannon shakes up Gators
Interim coach begins making changes with improvement in mind
GAINESVILLE — UF interim football coach Randy Shannon is making changes in his new position, including opening up a quarterback competition.
A day after the school parted ways with Jim McElwain, Shannon said struggling redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks’ job no longer is safe following a 30-yard passing day during a 42-7 loss to Georgia.
Back-up Malik Zaire replaced Franks during the fourth quarter and helped prevent UF’s first shutout loss in 35 years to the rival Bulldogs.
“We’ve got competition at quarterback,” Shannon said. “My theory and my thoughts are you compete every day at practice.”
The tweaks by Shannon, the former head coach at Miami, do not end there. Shannon has promoted defensive line coach Chris Rumph to replace him as defensive coordinator. Shannon also moved former Idaho head coach
Rob Akey from defensive quality control coach to replace Rumph.
“For me, being a defensive coordinator and me just hanging around with the defense, when you take over a team, it’s not the right thing to do,” Shannon said. “[I’ve] got be a part of the whole defense and offense and special teams.”
Losers of three consecutive games, the Gators (3-4, 3-3 SEC) clearly need to improve in all three areas. Shannon said special teams would be a big emphasis beginning Monday as UF prepared to visit Missouri (3-5, 0-4). UF ranks 71st of 129 teams nationally in kickoff returns and 114th in punt returns.
“We have to get field position,” Shannon said. “We have to do a tremendous job of getting the offense not 80 yards to make it; 60 or 50 yards to go to give us more of a chance.”
UF’s offense needs any help it can get and enters Saturday’s game ranked 13th in the 14-team SEC in scoring, averaging just 21.3 points. And the Gators now are without leading rusher Malik Davis. Shannon confirmed Davis suffered a season-ending knee injury against Georgia.
Shannon had other news a frustrated fan base likely did not want to hear Monday: Much-maligned offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier will continue to call plays.
Shannon does not plan to re-invent the Gators overnight.
“You can’t wholesale everything,” he said. “Coach Mac left a great foundation for us. Now we’ve just got to build on it. Like anything when you have change, you have to change certain things.
“You have to change something or it becomes stagnant. We won’t be stagnant.”
Shannon and UF now have one month to salvage the 2017 regular season and earn a trip to a bowl game.
“The message yesterday for the team is, ‘Hey, we’ve got four games left,’ ” Shannon said. “Everybody in the room wants to be winners; they want to be competitive. They don’t want to let anybody down.
“Most of all, I told them, ‘Don’t let yourself down. Compete at a high level. Concentrate. Do all the things that you need to get done and we’ll be successful.’ ”
While the Gators’ level of success could impact Shannon’s long-term coaching future, the 51-year-old said he is not looking to impress UF athletics director Scott Stricklin as he seeks a head coach.
“I don’t look at it as an audition,” Shannon said.
Instead, Shannon wants players, coaches and fans to enjoy the coming weeks, even in the wake of a tough time for those associated with the program.
“It’s hard,” Shannon said. “Like anything else, you have to keep pressing the fact of what’s the big picture. Everybody loves Coach Mac. I love Coach Mac.
“He gave me this opportunity to be at Florida and he’s recruited a lot of guys on this football team.”
Senior tailback Mark Thompson called McElwain’s sudden ouster “sad,” but he said the team would rally around the straightshooting Shannon.
“He won’t beat around the bush,” Thompson said. “If you want to know something, he’ll tell you the truth and be honest with you. That’s the way it should be.”