One day after signing one of the best defensive recruiting classes in recent memory, Florida lost its defensive coordinator for the second time in a month.
George Edwards, who was hired on Jan. 8 to be UF’s new defensive coordinator after the departure of Charlie Strong, accepted the same position with the Buffalo Bills on Thursday, according to ESPN.
New Bills coach Chan Gailey worked with Edwards when he was the head coach in Dallas almost a decade ago.
Edwards coached the linebackers there and with the Miami Dolphins before coming to Gainesville for roughly a month.
The Gators will begin the search for a new defensive coordinator and could hire from within the program.
Safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Chuck Heater expressed interest in the position before Edwards filled the job following UF’s Sugar Bowl win.
“I’m interested in having a leadership role, whatever that might be,” Heater said on Dec. 28. “But I don’t have to be entitled or anything. I just want to be in a good room with a good exchange of ideas with good guys.”
Defensive line coach Dan McCarney has also been mentioned as a possible candidate, though he told media members that he was not interested in the increased responsibility on Dec. 28.
