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Gators Monday Press Conference: WILL MUSCHAMP NOT RETURNING

        

DR. BERNIE MACHEN, UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT

Good morning everyone. I know that we're here today to talk about the next chapter of Florida football.  [Athletics Director] Jeremy [Foley] and Will [Muschamp] will be following and will do that, but for just a moment today I would like to talk about Will Muschamp.  From my perspective as president, I have treasured, literally treasured, the last four years in working with Will.  He was asked to come here and build a program, a program built on character and on good academic values.  He was asked to develop young men that would be a credit to the Gator Nation.  He has done that.

Just looking at the academic performance of our student athletes, the APR is 979 this spring, which is 10 points above the national average for football.  Will has had 68 players that are academic All‑SEC, he has graduated 44 players with degrees.  The composite GPA this last spring was the highest in the history of our university for the sport of football.  His players have been very active in the community, we're proud of that, and previously unknown Mike McNeely, his biggest accomplishment was being awarded a Florida Presidential Service Award during the '13‑14 school year, and he may have had a few other accomplishments since then.

I think you know about the off‑the field behavior of our athletes and I'm proud of how they represent themselves, their team and their university.  Will and Carol and their family have been absolutely wonderful citizens in this community.  They are beloved by the people of this community and we feel like they are ours.  Never have I worked with a coach in any sport over three different universities who has been more supportive of the university mission and what we're trying to accomplish.  In the end, can you say that someone who has to leave has made a positive contribution, and the answer for that is definitely yes, for Will Muschamp.  In fact, I would love for my son or my grandson to have the opportunity to be coached by Will Muschamp.  Thank you.

 

JEREMY FOLEY, ATHLETICS DIRECTOR
Thank you for being here today, obviously hard to follow those comments because that's exactly how some of us feel.  Today was a tough, tough day on a lot of levels, very emotional day for a lot of people, including myself but certainly toughest on Will and his family.  He gave his heart and soul to this program, he loves this university, as you all know he grew up following the Gators, he loves the Gators, and everybody in the program was in the fox hole with him.  We respected him as a coach and as a person, and he respected all of us for the support we gave his program.  He is as fine of a person as you could ever meet and a friend to all of us.  Will Muschamp is a good, good person.  That is why this is so tough for everybody.  He's also a very good football coach, he has a track record.  He's won a lot of championships in his career; he will win more, I promise you that.  It just was not been working here as we all envisioned and certainly not as he envisioned four years ago when he came aboard.  When things are not working as envisioned, you've got to make a difficult decision despite the tremendous effort he put in.  That is why we're here today.  On a personal level I will miss working with Will every day. He represents everything that is right about college athletics.  That's not lip service that's the flat-out truth.  The environment inside our building is the best it's ever been because of Will.

Obviously a tough situation for our staff, all good people, all good coaches, all good family men who have worked extremely hard to fix this thing for the Florida Gators.  On behalf of our program I want to thank them for their efforts and as I said, very tough for them and we're going to do everything we can to assist them during this transition.  At the end of the day this can be a tough business when you're not winning and we all get that. 

This may have been the most difficult day for all of us because of the type of person that Will Muschamp is.  We wish him the best.  I'm proud that he's my friend.

 

WILL MUSCHAMP
I guess I'm under dressed for the occasion, I apologize for that.  I want to thank Jeremy and Dr. Machen for their support.  It's been outstanding.  I stand by my statement yesterday, that we didn't win enough football games, that's the bottom line.  You’ve got to win games.  We didn't get that done.  Very disappointed and frustrated that did not happen.  Certainly had our opportunities, especially this year, keeping a healthy roster and having the opportunity to win football games, and we didn't get it done.  Certainly Saturday was a great example of that.  But this locker room is better than it was four years ago, there is no question about that and where we've come.  I appreciate our players and how they've handled a very difficult season.  You come off of 4‑8 year, regardless of the circumstances, from last year, you go into this year and there is little margin of error and there is a Bullseye on you.  Everything is magnified to the Nth degree, but got a good football team coming back, we got some juniors that are going to make some tough decisions on their decisions for next year, and I'll always offer those guys my two cents, if you're going to be a first‑round pick, you need to come out if they're not they need to come back here and continue to develop their game. 

We’ve got a deep and talented roster, so don't let that new guy tell you he ain't got no good players.  Tell you that right now.  They got some good football players in that locker room.  I feel like we're headed the right direction at quarterback, as far as the depth and quality of the guys you got in the room, both lines of scrimmage, as talented a secondary as I've been around as far as those guys coming back, linebackers, you got some good players.  Special place, special people and I don't leave with any hard feelings or regrets at all.  After being here and the relationships that have been built.  Yesterday you're getting texts from people and whether it was Texas or Auburn or LSU or the Miami Dolphins, from people you have built relationships with and that's what this is.  The people are what makes it a special place and this is a great place to work.

I am going to start on EKU, because it's Monday, and that's what we do at a press conference on Monday.  We’ve got Senior Day in the Swamp last game for our seniors, guys that have given a lot to this program, very proud of them, play Eastern Kentucky.  I coached there in 1999 under Roy Kidd, a Hall‑of‑Famer.  A great man, a wonderful man I got a lot of respect for.  They're 9‑2 right now.  Dean Hood, their head football coach is a good friend of mine, and they're a playoff team in I-AA, or whatever we call that now.  Over 200 yards rushing a game to Dy'Shawn Mobley, who is a transfer from Kentucky, a guy that's over 1000 yards for the season.  And defensively they forced 28 turnovers and they blocked 7 kicks.  We’ve got our work cut out for us on Saturday, and our guys will be ready to go here at noon in the Swamp.

Injury-wise, disappointed that Jarrad Davis had a meniscus surgery this morning.  He will be out for the season, and Neiron Ball had a meniscus surgery as well.  He had to have a microfracture repair, so he's going to be non‑weight bearing for six weeks and probably out for four months.  Extremely disappointed for both those guys, both having great years, and certainly get those guys rehabbed as quickly as possible.  But Senior Day is a huge day for our guys and certainly get them bowl eligible for them and send them out on the right note.  I will open it up for questions.

Q.  Will, you said you had no regrets, other than winning games is there anything in the reflective period that you've had that you would have done differently? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  Sure, there is no question.  It's frustrating to see guys stand in this day and say I wouldn't have changed anything, well, hell you'd have gotten fired again.  The way I look at it, there are things that you go back and look back on your tenure, whether you're a administrator, a coach, a CEO of a business, you would have maybe done some things differently when you look back but I always look at why you made the decision at the time and as long as you can look at the decision and say these were the parameters, it's easy after it's over with to say that wasn't a very good decision. So sure there are things that you would do differently, there is no question about that, but I don't think that's attributed to being a first‑year coach, I don't think that's it, I think there are things that occur and happen and you’ve got to be able to manage those situations better/differently however they are but that's for me, I handle it that way.  I'm not going to make a public debate over that. 

Q.  Will, how difficult was it yesterday addressing the team? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  You know, hard. You spend a lot of time with these guys and they've done everything I've asked them to do as far as on and off the field.  I'm going to root for these guys as hard as anybody.  I want the University of Florida to be successful.  I will always going to be a Gator, unless I'm on the other sideline.  I always will want these guys to be successful in what they do and I always will be there for them.  There is not question about that.  You spend as much time with these guys as you do your own kids.  Sad to say, but I do, and I look at these young men as my own. 

Q.  What was your message to the players? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  A great example in life.  You can work really hard and you can be diligent in what you do but you've got to have results in life, whether you're in the business world or in the coaching profession, doesn't matter, you have to produce.  Players tell me all the time ‘I'm tryin' hard,’ I know, but you're not producing so we got to go with somebody else.  So that's the message I had for them, learn the lesson you got to produce in life, if you're a salesman you’ve got to sell, if you're a football coach you need to win. 

Q.  I understand this is a business but Jeremy stood up here and said he calls you a friend, what has that meant to you? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  It's been outstanding, the support has been unwavering the entire time and he's got to make tough decisions for the University of Florida and as a head coach you've got to be making tough decisions for your football team and that isn't always [sic] with everyone in the room with.  I understand and I respect the decision.  I've got great respect for Jeremy as an administrator, as an athletic director and as a friend.

Q.  You said there are maybe things you could have done differently.  Why do you think the offense never got cranked up?  Would you have changed something, like philosophy?  You know how the fans and the media are, they like to see offense. 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  Well, I think you go back to our second year and having a new starter at a quarterback and you play to your strengths as a coach and it wasn’t always pretty but we did a hell of a job that year. We overachieved as a football team and did a damn good job coaching.  It may not have been pretty but we won 11 games and it's hard to do in our league.  Moving forward, inconsistencies at different positions offensively, and that hurt us.  That's the bottom line.  We could never get on track as far as those things were concerned.  Again, I'm not going to get into a public debate about what we could have, would have, and should have done.  At the end of the day we weren't productive offensively and that hurt us.

Q.  Coach, you got a few players over there, Mike Taylor said he wouldn't want to play for anyone else, Matt Rolin said you are like a father to him.  What does it mean to have that kind of an impact?

COACH MUSCHAMP:  Well, it goes a lot further than Saturday afternoon and to me that's what's different.  That's what it means when you coach young players, you're there for them on Sunday after a tough loss, you're there for them on Monday when something is going wrong at home, and you try and be a great example for them for them through tough times and adversity. That’s what you do and that's the role here we're in at present it's not just Saturday afternoon, and I feel like that's a strength of mine.

Q.  Will, after the decision was made Sunday that you wouldn't return next year, why was it so important to you to be able to coach these last two regular season games? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  Well, I've been with these guys, I brought these guys on campus.  I told them the football team, you're not going to see anything different.  Caleb, you jump off sides, I'm goin' rip ya.  It’s gonna happen. You ain't going to see anything different.  We're going to coach these guys hard.  They deserve that, the University of Florida deserves that.  I'm totally invested for two weeks to be the coach at Florida and that's what we're trying to do.  Not going to do anything different.  I did things a little differently yesterday, I took my laptop home and did a little work.  Today we started breaking down Eastern Kentucky defensively.  Nothing changes.  We are going to be on the practice field this afternoon, look forward to it. 

Q.  Eastern Kentucky coming in, do they do anything unique or difficult schematically to prepare for? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  A little different structure defensively which we will hit with our players this afternoon and as far as offense we've seen a lot of things that they do.  They're more of an 11 personnel grouping, inside-zone quarterback‑run game, move the pocket, a good team, so based on what I've seen to this point, there are things we have seen, there are not drastic differences, they've done an outstanding job on special teams and we've got to tie some things up there.

Q.  Are you concerned about how your players will respond?

COACH MUSCHAMP:  No, our guys will respond the right way and handle it with class like they always have in all situations.  It's important for us to get these seniors a win here in the Swamp and these next two weeks get two Ws. 

Q.  How much and how long will you continue to recruit for Florida moving forward and what would be your message to those guys? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  The assistant coaches will continue the recruiting process and certainly anyone that asks me about Florida I'm going to tell them that it's a great place to be, it's a great situation academically.  Something that can certainly help you for the rest of your life, my message won't change as far as those things are concerned. 

Q.  And what do you feel about the job you've done recruiting? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  I think we've got a deep, talented team.  Key positions where we have struggled, hopefully in the future they've been able to make those situations better. 

Q.  If you get the student to be a head coach again can you talk about what you might do differently if not specifically? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  No. 

Q.  How tough do you think these last two weeks will be for you emotionally? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  I don't know, just hit you there yesterday and you handle the situations as you go and look forward to getting on the field and coaching and those sort of things.  I hadn't gotten that far with it yet to be honest with you, but back to your question, I think every situation is different.  I think we have tried to do the best of our ability play to our strengths in some situations and hasn't always been exactly what we all perceived that we wanted but the reality is I felt like we do some things we need to do to be successful and we came up short in some situations, especially this year. 

Q.  In terms of the academics and the kids not having any off‑field issues, what was the general message from day one?  Why do you think you're able to see improvement in the GPA and in kids staying out of trouble?  Were they scared of you? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  No, not scared of me.  I think that goes back to recruiting, you know, when you make decisions in the recruiting process, the type of young men you want in your locker room and the type of person you want on your football team and the type of individuals you want to represent the University of Florida.  That it's an inexact science from the standpoint of the limited amount of contacts we have off campus, but doing your due diligence as a coach and assistant coach to make sure you have outlined for your assistants the type of young man you want in the program and a type of guy ‑‑ if a guy has issues as a 10th and 11th grader, he's probably going to have them as a freshman in college. We have tried to steer clear of that and move forward with the right kind of guy and I think this locker room has got that. 

Q.  Did you know this was coming Saturday? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  You know, certainly after the game and the way it ended and having two home games in the Swamp and you sit there and have opportunities to win both games, I certainly knew there was a possibility.  No question, yeah. 

Q.  Do you want to stay in college? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  I haven't even gone past two weeks.  I'm focused in on this football team and doing things right around here before I move forward. 

Q.  This should be a difficult situation but you’re handling it really well, you look great up there.  How are you handling this thing so well? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  My wife thinks I've gained some weight this year.  What's that? 

Q.  You’re handling this really well. 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  This is a business.  You don't let your personal life and your business life mess things up.  You can't get personal in this situation.  In any case, I don't let my personal feelings get involved as far as how you feel personally about a situation.  You develop friendships and as long as you're treat right and fairly I feel like I've been treated right and fairly. Again, I don't have any hard feelings or regrets in any situation of where we are. 

Q.  What was it like Sunday night at home?

COACH MUSCHAMP:  It wasn't fun.  It's a tough deal, but I got a tough family, a great wife and two great kids. 

Q.  Coach, you've done three senior day ceremonies before but this is your fourth year, your first full recruiting class that you're going to watch on the field coming out of the tunnel.  What kind of emotions do you anticipate feeling? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  Whenever you send those guys out, you don't get to coach 'em again and we've had great relationships with these guys on this team.  That's always tough no matter its the first year or the fourth year, no matter if it's my recruiting class, it's Florida's recruiting class, that's the way I've looked at it.  It's tough to know you be won't be on the field with those guys, maybe on the next level but, hey, these guys have given a lot to the university and send 'em out the right way.

Q.  How much does luck have to do with whether you succeed or lose?  Did you ever feel snake‑bitten? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  We had some buzzard luck last year, injuries and things that happened, difficult circumstances.  I watch Alabama late in the game, a one score game, cut a guy loose on punting the ball back in their area and the guy missed it; South Carolina’s guy didn’t miss it. Bounce of the ball here or there, you never know.  That's part of it and the part of the profession and you just keep ‑‑ I've also had the ball bounce our way a bunch of times too, it all comes out in the wash, that's the way you've got to look at it. 

Q.  I know you're not looking beyond those games but did you want to coach next year? 

COACH MUSCHAMP:  Hasn't crossed my mind as far as what holds after these next two weeks, take a little time with Carol and hang out and we'll figure it out from there.  That's what I've done my whole life.  I can't imagine me not doing it, but, again, I want to do what's best for me and my family.

 

JEREMY FOLEY, ATHLETICS DIRECTOR
We want to talk a little bit about the future and the search and open up for any questions you might have about anything.  The search will begin immediately, this afternoon.  There is no fixed time timetable but we will proceed as quickly as we can.  There is a lot of work to do, a lot of research to do.  We understand how important this hire is for this university.  We also understand the pride of the Gator Nation and we understand the pride they have in this football program and because we have fallen short the last several years we totally understand the disappointment and their frustration. Their passion can cut both ways but it’s their passion that makes this place special.  We may not have had the results in the last several weeks in The Swamp that we've wanted but I've been on the field and seen how hard those fans have tried to work to make it special.  It's an amazing place and we want to make this decision right for them, this program and this university.

Couple of things I want to say about whoever the next person may be and I want you to understand going in and first and foremost is high integrity and character, our mission statement says, "championship experience with integrity," that is paramount us as we move forward.  The guy you just saw up here you know epitomized that right there, his integrity without question.  We would obviously like an individual that's been successful on the offensive side of the ball, I think obviously that's what the Gator Nation wants and we see that and that's what we're certainly going to try to provide for them.  You've heard me talk about it before, make sure it's a fit for the University of Florida.  What does that mean?  This is not a place for everybody, not everybody fits in here.  As we go through the process we want to make sure they do fit in here. 

The other specifics of the search, I'm not going to get into those today.  I know you have questions about those but couple things I do want to say because it's the world we live in and I understand you all have a tough job and maybe I will speak to the Gator fans about this one, we have not contacted anybody.  I don't care what's been written or said, rumored, what have you, I have not talked to one coach.  We will not disrupt people's seasons.  We have a lot of respect for other schools and other programs and what certain schools are trying to accomplish and we have a little time here to do our research but we're not going to disrupt people's seasons.  As we've always done around here but I want to make sure this is understood by everyone, we will handle this the right way.  We don't cut backroom deals here, that's not how we do things here.  Again, no matter what is written or said.  We will talk to coaches, we will talk to athletic directors, it will be handled above board and I want that to be understood as well.  I understand the intense interest in this search.  I understand that it will generate rumors, conversation, and, again, the intense interest of this search makes this place special, people care.  We certainly have no problem with that, but again speaking to our fans there will be a lot of there will be a lot of misinformation written about the search here in the next month and I would ask them to try to wade through that, okay?  We're not sharing information about this search every week, we can't do it.  Can't address every rumor and I'm not trying to be combative, just can't.  Have a job to do.  When we can share information we will and we want to do that.  I think that's all I got on that, any questions for me?  As we're going forward about anything. 

Q.  This is about philosophy.  Are you definitely looking for a fellow who has been a head coach and has experience in running the entire ship? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  I commented I'm not going to get into the specifics of what we're looking for.  We spent a difficult day yesterday with Will and his staff and the team, obviously today is same way, very emotional.  We haven't even begun to sit down and go through the criteria. 

Q.  If this Gator team gets into a bowl game who will be in charge? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  That decision has not been made, Will will not coach the bowl game; that was his decision and we certainly respect that.  The paramount issue is qualifying for a Bowl game and if we do we will make those decisions. 

Q.  What was the conversation like with Will, when did you tell him?

JEREMY FOLEY:  Yesterday morning, and just what you saw up here is what I got yesterday.  You know as I said, emotional, difficult, cause we care about him so much, that's part of it.  To say he was a pro would be an understatement.  I said in my opening statements he's as good of a person as you ever want to be around, he gets it, he totally gets it.  It was a hard conversation, as much as anything on a personal level.  On the professional level it was as easy as it could be because of him. 

Q.  Jeremy, you mentioned that someone with success on the opposite side of the ball is something Gator Nation wants, is that a schematic decision by you, or giving the customer what they want based on what you’ve heard? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  It's certainly not the a schematic decision by me, because when I start getting into schematics, the Gator Nation is in trouble, okay?  I think you listen to the fans and certainly when Steve [Spurrier] was here and Urban [Meyer] was here, what fans say, we think that's important.  Going forward we will see what the pool looks like but we do think that's important. 

Q.  Is there a feeling that there needs to be some upgrades in facilities?  I know you had a major upgrade in '08 but I've seen stories that feel like Florida has dropped behind a couple of schools or is that something that a new coach would be involved in? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  I wear orange and blue goggles a lot and I'm certainly willing to have wide‑open eyes but I don't agree with that assessment that our facilities have fallen behind.  We judge our facilities based on can they help our programs be successful?  Do they make an impact on their ability to be successful, whether that's a weight room for football, gymnastics practice studio, what have you.  As you look around our facilities, we're not into bells and whistles, we're putting a major expansion into our academic center.  We're designing that right now.  I think when you bring young men and women on our campus with their parents, I think their commitment to academic success and personal development as human beings is really important.  We're always looking to upgrade our facilities but we're not getting into an arms race and our facilities are not any issue in my opinion, affecting our success.  A new coach will come in here ‑‑ every coach that comes in needs something new, I don't think this meeting room looked like this until Will got here, all right?  But that's the way it works.  On a major scale that's not impacting our success at all. 

Q.  How do you think Will will handle these next two weeks as far as getting this team ready? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  That's the last thing I'm worried about.  I've used the word a couple times, you talk about a pro, a guy that's all about the right things.  If we didn't think he could do it, he would say I'm not going to do it he told the team yesterday you're not going to see anything differently.  He will coach his tail off and he will be the Will Muschamp that we've all known and he will work to be very successful in the next two weeks and I don't worry about that at all because of the type of guy he is. 

Q.  You say the passion of fans cuts both ways, you've been a successful athletic director, but you know how fans are, they blame you for Will Muschamp not succeeding because you hired him.  How much pressure is there on you to make a really good hire right now? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  Obviously we know it's important to the Gator Nation, it's important to the entire University.  I've been here a long time, I know how fans support us, pressure is part of the gig and I've got a talented staff to assist and we'll find someone who wants to be here.  Fans blaming me because we're not successful, that's part of it, too, I understand that, we're in the business to be successful.  We're in the business to represent the University of Florida the right way, we're in the business to graduate people, business to develop young men and women but we're also in the sports business, the University of Florida, we have expectations to win same as our fans do. So it's the disappointment, and the frustration and someone blames me -- that's part of it.  That's part of it because we're not as successful as everybody wants us to be or as we want to be.  I understand that.  But I also understand the need tore us to get this right and that's why we're here today, unfortunately. 

Q.  Will it be a search firm or is it just you? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  No, it will not be just me, in fact, I've learned a long time ago it, I can't do this by myself.  I've leaned heavily on internal staff, I learned that about ten years ago.  I kept making hires that weren't working out, in a lot of different sports.  Once I figured out we needed some help, we started getting pretty good.  I have a very talented staff that will help, as far as a search firm, I have not made any decisions on stuff like that at this point in time.  In reality it wasn't Jeremy Foley last time, work with people to get help and we will get a lot of people's input, valued peoples contributions at the end of the day.  Dr. Machen and I will make the decision, it will be done, certainly Dr. Fuchs, the incoming president is going to have a role in this because he will be here in January.  We will not do ‑‑ it will not be a lone wolf Jeremy Foley by himself that's not the way it's been for a long time. 

Q.  You talk about somebody that fits with Gator Nation can you expand on what that means and how many people out there fit in with those qualifications? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  We're going to find one, because this place is a special place, this place, we talk about high character, a championship experience with integrity, you got to find that individual that fits in that.  You got to find an individual that values all 21 sports.  We’ve got some really good sports programs around here and really good coaches around here and you better value them and be part of them. The beauty about what we do around here is that we have a lot of coaches that work together and pick each other's brains.  You can't come in here and think football is more important than the 20 other sports, that mind‑set doesn't work here, understanding the passion of the Gator Nation, understanding the academic reputation of this institution, understanding that inside the building, that's important, what does that mean?  Respecting people and treating people right.  Those things are important to us and personal, individual philosophy, I think they translate into success.  I think that's one reason we've been successful around here because we got a lot of people who are that way.  Again, I've said often that's nebulous sometimes, to try to explain that but hopefully that helped a little bit. 

Q.  How much has the marketplace changed in four years, in terms of the salary you're going to have to pay the next guy? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  To be honest I haven't really looked at the marketplace, the world changes and University of Florida is going to find a good football coach and we will do what we need to do to be successful today.  We have always taken care of our coaches financially. I do think it's changed to the extent that a lot of people are paying their coaches a lot of money and there may be people that are movable or not movable, but haven't jumped into that and we will find nor about that in the next few weeks. 

Q.  You said this was a tough decision, what would it have taken for Will to return next season? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  Certainly done a lot of evaluating after the Missouri game and talked about those things and ideally he would’ve run the table.  Started out in a very positive way by upsetting the Bulldogs and had positive momentum.  We had to keep moving up the tracks, so to speak, like a roller coaster, going up, going up, going up and thought we were doing that and I know he thought that and Saturday was a step back and that's why we're here today.  Had to show that type of progress, we talked about it all year long we were going to evaluate the season as it progressed and that's what we did.  Again, at the end of the day, felt that we weren't progressing as we needed to be and that's why the tough decision was made yesterday. 

Q.  I'm sure worrying about rerouting be is not high on your priority list right now but this cycle has not been that great to you guys, how do you think recruiting will play out the next month and half with the assistants? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  There is no question anytime there is a coaching change it's difficult in recruiting.  Signing day is not until February.  You can't rush this.  At the end of the day, it's still the University of Florida.  We got a lot to offer up here.  I think we have an opportunity here and a new coach will get in here, but recruiting is about relationships, you have heard Will talk about it and Urban talk about it and that's the way it is.  A new coach coming in here will be behind the 8 ball but you're not going to rush it because of recruiting.  Recruiting is important and we'll get a coach in here in plenty of time to visit and we will convince folks this is a great place to be because it is a great place to be, we have a lot to offer, and that has not changed. But right now, the unknown, who is the new coach, can't answer that right now. 

Q.  You spoke earlier about making sure you take care of your coaches.  Will Will's contract be were honored in full, as well as his assistants? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  Will's contract will be honored, payment over time and the assistant coaches will be honored.  The only difference between Will and the assistant coaches is the assistants have mitigation, if they get jobs that releases us from our burden of paying them.  Again, the University of Florida respects the job those folks have done for us, they have worked really hard.  Nobody wants to be here today, but they have families, they're people and we care about them and we will treat them right.  We've always done that. 

Q.  You alluded to the need to get an offensive‑minded coach here.  Does that preclude hiring a head coach whose acumen is on the defensive side of the ball? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  You misquoted me, Gene.  I know that doesn't happen very often. I said someone who has had success on the offensive side of the ball. 

Q.  My question is does that preclude somebody who was weaned on defense? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  No, I mean, we need to have a coach who has a track record of success on the offensive side of the ball.  That's what I meant to say and I hope that clarifies it. 

Q.  Steve Spurrier hasn't coached here in more than a decade, yet his name gets thrown around the rumor mill. Does that surprise you? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  No, the amount of respect that the Gator Nation and we all have for Steve Spurrier, there will be rumors and speculation and a lot of things thrown out there and some point we're going to start the search process and go from there.  But to emphasize what I said earlier, I have not talked to one coach. Really I've not even begun the search process because we've been dealing with Will and his team and his staff.

Q.  I know you're just getting started.  I don't want say a timetable in term of a day it's got to happen, but a general idea when you feel like this needs to happen? 

JEREMY FOLEY:  Certainly I think you like to have somebody on board at some point in December.  To get acclimated to get a staff in place so you can hit the ground running at recruiting time.  I know there is a dead period in December sometime, I don't know exactly when that is, but that's ideal.  A lot of things that go into that, bowl games, those type of things, but we will navigate that.  We have navigated that. That's ideal. I don't want people holding me to December 8th, "Why don't you have a coach?"  I'm not saying that.  Ideally you would like to have somebody in here before Christmas, that would be perfect. 



 

 

  
   

 

 

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