The revolving door of coaches at Florida continues to spin.
The Gators hired two assistants Tuesday, Stan Drayton and D.J. Durkin, to fill vacancies as running backs and linebackers coaches, respectively.
Drayton will replace Kenny Carter, while Durkin comes in for former defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Charlie Strong, now Louisville’s head coach. Carter is expected to join Strong’s staff, though no announcement has been made.
“[UF interim coach Steve Addazio] and I worked together on this and are excited to have D.J. and Stan join our coaching staff,” Urban Meyer said in a press release. “Both guys are familiar with the plan we have for our program, our coaches and our student-athletes. It will be a smooth transition and they both bring a high level of expertise to the table and have proven to be good recruiters.”
Drayton is especially familiar with the program, as he coached at Florida from 2005-07. He spent this season at Syracuse after coaching at Tennessee in 2008, and when he left UF for the Volunteers, he voiced his frustrations with the way running backs are used in the offense.
Now, he’ll have a stable of talented backs. Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody are proven threats from the backfield, while freshman Mike Gillislee showed potential this season.
Carter’s departure could affect recruiting, as it may cause Lithonia (Ga.) King High running back Mack Brown to reconsider his verbal commitment to UF. Brown’s coach told the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday that Brown was “confused” by the move and is re-evaluating his options.
Durkin comes to Gainesville after three years at Stanford working with defensive ends and special teams. Durkin played at Bowling Green, where he was a graduate assistant under Meyer.
