Jim McElwain’s staff is still one short.
After announcing the hiring of six staff members on Monday in addition to defensive coordinator Geoff Collins and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, all the new Florida head coach is missing is a wide receivers coach.
But McElwain said Wednesday he does not plan to make any rash choices.
"I’m waiting on me to make a decision," he said.
Akin to playing chess, McElwain said he is adamant about making the right decision for the long run rather than a quick one that looks smart in the short run.
"There’s a lot of components that go into that. … Am I just going to throw a dart at that board over there? No," McElwain said. "Do I have a firm short list? Yeah. Am I ready to pull the trigger the plug right now and go at it? We’ll make it right."
McElwain still evaluating offense: During his introductory press conference, McElwain joked about calling his offense the "Humane Society" because the Gators will adapt to whatever talent they have in their possession.
But McElwain has yet to figure out exactly what pieces he has to work with.
"Our offense is going to fit to the personnel that we have," McElwain said.
"Now, I don’t know about the personnel that we have. I saw practice, I saw a game, I haven’t been with them in offseason workouts to see how they’re wired, and I’m getting that. So until we do that, we’ll fit whatever we need to do."
Shannon was always on McElwain’s radar: McElwain knew he wanted Randy Shannon on his staff.
Shannon, a former head coach at the University of Miami and most recently the linebackers coach at Arkansas, was hired Monday as UF’s associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
"He was a guy that was at the top of my list from a standpoint of the people and how they speak about his integrity, his discipline and his organization and his ball coaching ability," McElwain said. "The thing that gets lost, man, this guy is a great ball coach."
Shannon will also have a role in recruiting even though it is not in his job title.
"I don’t get into titles," McElwain said. "I never have."
Recruiting: With just less than four weeks until National Signing Day, McElwain and his staff need to make a big push to get recruits.
His class is currently only eight players deep — only 12 FBS schools have smaller classes — and is tied for 94th in the country with Memphis.
"We’ve gotten great buzz and yet time will tell as we move forward on that end of it," McElwain said. "But obviously the guys that we put in place have value to these recruits as they want to perfect their craft at their individual positions moving forward. That’s something that we had to do."
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New head football coach Jim McElwain following his introductory press conference on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
