Randy Shannon met with the media as UF's interim coach for the first time Monday. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Shannon Takes Interim Reins With Just One Focus: Missouri
Monday, October 30, 2017 | Football, Chris Harry
Randy Shannon, elevated from defensive coordinator to interim head coach, held his first news conference Monday.
He lasted four years. From there, it was stints at TCU, Arkansas and then Florida.
On Monday, Shannon stepped to the podium with the official title of "interim head coach" of the Gators, after being promoted Sunday following the exit of Jim McElwain. Toward the end of his 19-minute question-and-answer session with the media, Shannon, who went 28-22 in four seasons (2007-10) as head coach at UM, was asked if a chance at the permanent job was broached in his discussions with UF athletic directory Scott Stricklin.
Never came up, Shannon said.
"You know the best job I ever had in my whole career?" asked the 51-year-old Shannon, who during that career has coached the likes of Warren Sapp, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Jonathan Vilma, Vince Wilfork, Jon Beason and Devin Hester. "The best job I've had is the one I have right now, because it's the only job. The best players I have ever coached are the players I'm coaching right now, because they're the only players I can coach. You have to take that mindset and capitalize on it, instead of thinking about the past and the future. Think about what you have now."
And, with that, the Randy Shannon era — however long it turns out to be — officially kicked off, with the Gators (3-4, 3-3), losers of three straight, turning their focus on Saturday's noon showdown at Missouri (3-5, 0-4), their first game without McElwain on the sidelines in three seasons.
For Shannon, the "now" is all about the Tigers and a trip to Columbia and nothing else. That's good because Stricklin made a point in his briefing Sunday night to address McElwain's departure that there is still a lot of football to be played.
"I'm confident Coach Shannon and our staff will provide the guidance our program needs these next four weeks," Stricklin said. "We have four games left. We are not giving up on this season. I know our young men are ready to go out and get on the field this coming Saturday at Missouri and represent the Gators."
CHARTING THE GATORS
Randy Shannon, the Florida defensive coordinator since the weeks leading up to the Outback Bowl last season, is the fifth interim UF head coach in the program's history. Here's how the previous four fared:
| Interim Head Coach | Year | Replaced | Record | The buzz |
| Galen Hall | 1984 | Charley Pell | 8-0 | Steamrolled to program's first SEC title that eventually was vacated by league due to rampant NCAA violations under Pell. |
| Gary Darnell | 1989 | Galen Hall | 3-4 | More NCAA issues, these under Hall, paved way for hiring of Steve Spurrier on Dec. 31, 1989. |
| Charlie Strong | 2004 | Ron Zook | 0-1 | Took over preparations heading into Chick-Fil-A Bowl, an eventual 27-10 loss to Miami. |
| D.J. Durkin | 2014 | Will Muschamp | 1-0 | Defeated East Carolina 28-20 in Birmingham Bowl. |
That UF will make its third trip to Mizzou is not in question.
Who the quarterback will be, however, is another issue.
Among Shannon's announcements Monday was that the quarterback competition between incumbent starter Feleipe Franks, who in his seventh start struggled mightily in Saturday's 42-7 loss to rival Georgia, and fifth-year graduate transfer Malik Zaire, who led UF on its lone scoring drive late in the game, would be reopened with Monday's practice. Also, defensive line coach Chris Rumph was promoted to defensive coordinator. Robb Akey, a defensive quality control coach, will move into Rumph's old job.
With that, it was off to work.
"It's hard," Shannon said of the unique and awkward circumstances the program now finds itself in. "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. They know deep, down inside, the biggest thing we have to do is win games. We have to be competitive. We have to win.
"Anytime you're a competitor, you always have to compete at a high level no matter what the circumstances are. Sometimes guys are sick, not feeling well, but they still have to compete. This is an opportunity for us to compete at a high level and give us our best shot this week playing against Missouri."
It'll take their best shot, despite what the Tigers' record might suggest.
Missouri is near the top of the Southeastern Conference statistics in virtually every offensive category, including scoring (35.5 points per game), total offense (487.8 pg) and passing (325.8 ypg). All those put the Tigers among the top 28 (out of 127) nationally. Quarterback Drew Lock has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes for 2,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Florida's stagnant offense, of course, is one of the reasons McElwain is no longer the coach. After gaining just 249 yards against Georgia, including only 30 passing, the Gators are 109th in scoring, 112th in total offense and 110th at throwing the football.
Worth noting: Whereas Lock has 28 touchdown passes this season, UF has thrown just five as a team, with the only teams in the country having thrown fewer being Georgia Southern (3) and Army (2), two wishbone offenses.
Whether it'll be Franks (60 percent, 830 yards, 4 TD, 4 INT) or Zaire (52.2 percent, 142, 0 TD, 0 INT) under center, will be determined over the course of the week. And whoever it is will not have tailback Malik Davis, the talented true freshman who led the team in rushing with 526 yards before suffering a season-ending knee injury against the Bulldogs. Shannon expects senior Mark Thompson (30 carries, 119 yards, 1 TD) to get a lot of work this week.
The Gators should be able to move the ball against a Missouri defense that rates next to last in the SEC in both total defense (453.0 ypg) and pass defense (260.6 ypg), as well as 12th in allowing 35.8 points per outing.
"We've got players on offense," Shannon said. "We just have got to put them in the right spots to be successful and make sure we capitalize on certain situations."
It could also be said that Shannon has a chance to capitalize on a certain situation, relative to his coaching career. A mini-run here by the Gators — after Missouri, UF is on the road at South Carolina, home to UAB and finishes at home against rival Florida State — could cause some folks, perhaps, to take notice.
Certainly, it would be appreciated by Florida faithful everywhere.
"I don't look at it as an audition," Shannon said. "I just think [it's an] opportunity to coach and have fun with a bunch of guys, the student-athletes that you have a chance to be with. These guys have got to represent the University of Florida. Myself, I have to represent the University of Florida.
"We've got to go out there as a whole team and unit and coaching staff and have fun with these guys; be very enthusiastic, be very positive and whatever happens in the game early, we've got to weather the storm. At the end of the day, that's the only thing that matters; what happened at the end of the game."
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