Florida Gators
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Gators assistant Matt McCall gets head coach job at Tennessee-Chattanooga
Monday, April 13, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Cross Country, Chris Harry
Matt McCall (left) rose through the ranks of Coach Billy Donovan's staff from manager to assistant coach. Now he's off to be head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Matt McCall could have pursued other head coaching opportunities in the past. The timing just wasn't right.
It is now.
McCall, 33, was hired Sunday as head coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga and will leave Billy Donovan's staff after four seasons, 107 victories, two Southeastern Conference titles, three NCAA Tournament berths and a trip to the Final Four. He'll take over for a program left in very good shape by Will Wade, who was hired this week to replace Shaka Smart as head coach at Virginia Commonwealth.
“My family and I could not be happier,” said McCall in a UT-C release. He thanked athletic director David Blackburn and UT chancellor Steve Angle. “It takes a special place for me to leave the University of Florida and that is exactly what we see in Chattanooga.”
He truly rose through the Florida ranks to get this opportunity. 
McCall was a manager during the 2002-03 season and was promoted to director of basketball operations where he remained from 2004-08, including the back-to-back NCAA titles of '06-07. In 2008, McCall went to Florida Atlantic as an assistant for Mike Jarvis, where he helped coach the Owls of the Sun Belt Conference for three seasons before returning to Florida in 2011 as a full-time member of Donovan's staff after the exit of Richard Pitino.
Now in the Southern Conference, McCall will inherit a team that went 22-10 last season, including 15-3 in the league, before being eliminated by Furman in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
“Matt has done a tremendous job for the University of Florida and he will deeply be missed,” Donovan said in the release. “I knew it would take a special situation for Matt to leave, and without question, Chattanooga is a great opportunity. The Mocs are getting a great coach and an even better person. Matt will do a tremendous job.”
The Moccasins are expected to return seven of their top eight scorers, including junior guards Casey Jones (14.2 points, 7.0 rebounds per game) and Greg Pryor (11.3 ppg).
McCall is the fifth Donovan staffer to jump to a first-time head coach opportunity, joining John Pelphrey (South Alabama in 2002), Anthony Grant (VCU in '07), Donnie Jones (Marshall in '07) and assistant to the head coach Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City Blue, of the NBA Developmental League, in '14).
Donovan had gone three seasons with the same assistant coaching staff, but now will be in the market to fill a post for the first time since Norm Roberts left in 2012 for Kansas and was replaced by Rashon Burno, by way of Manhattan.
