Florida Gators Looking at Josh McDaniels to Replace Will Muschamp?

The Florida Gators have a head coaching opening to fill, and it is a more attractive job than Michigan (why haven’t the Wolverines canned Hoke?) or Nebraska. On the surface, it appears Gators AD Jeremy Foley could get whomever he wants. A couple things to note:

1) in 2010, when Foley hired Will Muschamp, and pretty much came out of nowhere. The media focus in the days leading up to the hire was on Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops.

2) Foley has a history of didn’t-see-it-coming moves: Ron Zook was a fallback option after big names (Shanahan, Stoops said no); Urban Meyer had big success at Utah, but the hire was a mild surprise.

3) Those who have worked with Foley on past coaching searches say he likes to be a “Discover” guy, and they claim he takes credit for ‘finding’ Meyer. Which is why I wouldn’t put any stock in any big names you hear connected to Florida.

4) It is unlikely that Foley is going to hire somebody and instantly make them the highest-paid coach in the country.

There were rumors about Colorado State’s Jim McElwain and Mississippi’s Hugh Freeze over the weekend, but the one that will have legs today comes from Football Scoop: Josh McDaniels.

"Foley considers New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels a viable candidate and is vetting him as well. McDaniels, the former Denver Broncos head coach, has been with the Patriots the past few years after his one year stint with the Rams (as offensive coordinator) didn’t work out. Other than his two years with the Broncos as head coach and his year with the Rams, McDaniels has spent most of the past decade with the Patriots in various capacities and would come with the very high recommendation of Robert Kraft and more importantly Bill Belichick. McDaniels first coaching job was as a grad assistant at Michigan State … wait for it … under Nick Saban."

McDaniels failed miserably in Denver in his first head coaching opportunity (he is the man who famously traded up to draft Tim Tebow). But with Tom Brady at 37, and the Patriots in the midst of what looks like maybe one final Super Bowl run, this seems as good a time as any for McDaniels to give head coaching another shot.

He’s a smart offensive mind, which will play well in the SEC.

One wonders: Did he see another New England assistant, Bill O’Brien, make the leap to college (Penn State) and then pro (Houston Texans) and think that was the better route than just jumping into an NFL job? It wouldn’t take McDaniels long to find success with the Gators.

Of course, Jeremy Foley isn’t going out to find a head coach who plans on being around for a couple years …