Officials with the University of Florida announced Sunday that football coach Will Muschamp will not return after the season. Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said Monday that the search for a replacement will begin immediately and he hopes to have a successor in place by late December.
"We'll proceed as quickly as we can," Foley said. "There's a lot of work to do, a lot of research to do. We understand how important this hire is to this university."
Foley declined to give specific criteria regarding the search, but he did say that he is looking for a coach that "has been successful on the offensive side of the ball."
"Obviously, that's what the Gator nation wants," Foley said. "We see that, and that's what we're certainly going to try and provide for them."
An ESPN source revealed Monday that offensive-minded Dan Mullen of Mississippi State and Rich Rodriguez of Arizona are not being considered for the position.
Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Texas' Charlie Strong, both of whom have ties to the Florida program, have shot down speculation of a return to the Gators.
"That isn't something. ... No, all I want to be is a candidate at Oklahoma," Stoops said when asked about the Florida job. "I'm not a candidate anywhere else. I'm finished with that question."
"I have a great job here [at Texas]," said Strong, who served as UF's defensive coordinator from 2003 to 2009. "We have a lot of work to get done here and we're not very pleased with where we are right now. I look at our record and know we could've been a lot better."
Former Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan has also denied rumors that he is interested in the job. Shanahan told Adam Schefter that he prefers coaching in the NFL at this time.
The Gators currently rank 88th in the country in total offense (373.2 yards per game) and 63rd in scoring (29.3 points per game).
"At the end of the day, we weren't productive offensively," Muschamp said, "and that hurt us."
Muschamp has a 27-20 record during his four-year tenure with Florida. The Gators went just 17-15 against other SEC teams during that span.
Florida will play Eastern Kentucky and Florida State in its final two games this season.
