Florida removed Randy Shannon's interim tag on Friday, announcing that the former Miami coach would be the Gators full-time defensive coordinator.
Shannon, who served as the Gators linebackers coach the past two seasons, was made the interim defensive coordinator for Florida's 30-3 win in the Outback Bowl after Geoff Collins left for the Temple coaching vacancy. The job of the Gators' defense against Iowa was enough to secure the full-time job for Shannon going forward as his interim tag was taken off.
"Coach Shannon has been a big part of our success over the last two years," said Jim McElwain in a statement. "It's been really cool to watch him handle his business. He really connects with our players and they have a lot of respect for him. More than being a great coach, he is a great mentor and teacher to these young men and that is one of our greatest measuring sticks as coaches."
Promoting from within on the defensive staff makes sense for the Gators, as the defense has been the strength of Florida's back-to-back SEC East title winning teams. In McElwain's two seasons at Florida, the Gators have finished 11th and sixth in the nation in scoring defense.
Shannon was a long-time assistant with the Miami Hurricanes from 1991-1997 before going to the Miami Dolphins. He returned to the Hurricanes as defensive coordinator in 2001 before taking over as head coach from 2007-2010. He has since bounced around as a linebackers coach at TCU and Arkansas before landing back in the state of Florida with the Gators under McElwain.
