Florida, Muschamp move on after Weis

Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.

Florida coach Will Muschamp already has started compiling a list of potential replacements for offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.

Weis left the Gators on Thursday after one season to take the head coaching job at Kansas.

He won’t coach the Gator Bowl against Ohio State on Jan. 2. Running backs coach Brian White, a former offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, will handle play-calling duties against the Buckeyes.

Muschamp wants to keep a pro-style offense at Florida, saying White and Jacksonville University coach Kerwin Bell will be considered for the job. Muschamp added that he has received numerous calls from others interested in the position.

“I will hire the best offensive coordinator in the country,” Muschamp said. “We need to improve offensively. Pretty obvious.”

The news of Weis’ move dominated the press conference that was expected to focus on the Jan. 2 Florida-Ohio State matchup. Ohio State interim coach Luke Fickell spoke first, saying how excited he was for the Buckeyes to be in playing in Florida. Then he became a bystander as Muschamp was peppered with questions about Weis.

The Gators ranked 102nd in the nation in total offense, struggling to move the ball consistently against the best teams in the Southeastern Conference. Quarterback John Brantley was inconsistent, hampered by an undersized offensive line, dropped passes and no power running game. Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps looked great against overmatched opponents, but found little room to run against the SEC’s best.

Weis was on the receiving end of some criticism, especially while Brantley missed a combined three games with an ankle injury. The offense was really stagnant with freshmen Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett under center.

Given all the offensive woes, Weis’ departure was somewhat surprising.

“You never foresee some things like that happen,” Muschamp said. “The last [year] didn’t go as well as we thought. We didn’t have exactly a great year offensively to promote that. But he’s got a great track record, he’s an outstanding coach, he’s a good man and he got a great opportunity to go to Kansas, so I’m happy for him.”