Following the announcement of the departure of Jim McElwain on Sunday, new interim head coach Randy Shannon took the podium for the first time on Monday. Shannon will move from defensive coordinator to lead Florida for the remainder of the 2017 season.
He gave updates on other temporary coaching position changes, injuries and his plans for the season moving forward.
Here is what he had to say:
- Malik Davis is out for the season with a knee injury, and Kylan Johnson will likely be out for the season as well.
- Mark Thompson will be looked at to step up in Davis’ absence. Adarius Lemons will be the third guy and should get some more playing time.
- Chris Rumph has been promoted to Florida’s defensive coordinator with Shannon moving to interim head coach.
- Rob Akey is being brought up as an assistant to work with the defensive line.
- Some things will be changed in Florida’s practices with Shannon taking over. “Coach Mac laid a great foundation for us. Now we’ve just gotta build on it.”
- There will be a quarterback competition in practices this week.
- Shannon will allow media to come out to practices more than McElwain did. He said it is the media’s job to be there, and opinions do not bother him.
- Scott Stricklin and Shannon have not yet talked about his chances of becoming the permanent head coach after this season, and he is not worried about that at the moment.
- Shannon will talk to some recruits tonight. He has not had a chance to reach out to them yet.
- He said he will meet with the offense every day, and he thinks a defensive coach can help the offense learn by providing a different perspective.
- The only focus for Florida this week is beating Missouri. “Don’t let the game before lose the next game.”