Coaches Jim McElwain Should Target to Fill out Florida Staff

Former Colorado State coach Jim McElwain may not be a "wow" hire for Florida, but the response he has received has generally been positive. 

"Everyone in Gainesville should rejoice for the type of coach he can be," SEC Network analyst Greg McElroy said. McElroy played quarterback for McElwain from 2008-10 at Alabama. 

Will McElwain be a good head coach for Florida? The only time that can be evaluated is four or five years in the future. But here's what McElwain can do right now to get off to a good start: Hire an excellent staff. 

Hiring a solid staff is as important as anything McElwain will do on the recruiting trail or the field, if not more so. It lays the foundation for everything else he will do going forward. 

As Scott Roussel of FootballScoop.com tweeted earlier this week, McElwain's staff at Colorado State was better equipped to recruit Colorado and Mountain West Conference area as opposed to Florida and SEC territory. In essence, he'd have to start largely, if not completely, from scratch. 

That means evaluating the assistants left behind from the Will Muschamp staff and likely bringing in some new faces. Which direction will McElwain look? Here's a short list of some possibilities:

Offensive Coordinator

Names to Watch: Billy Napier, Doug Nussmeier 

McElwain is an offensive coach with a background in coaching up quarterbacks. Because of that, he'll always have a hand in the offense. But expect Florida's new offensive coordinator to have a similar background. 

The two names who have emerged at FootballScoop.com and Coachingsearch.com are Alabama receivers coach Billy Napier and Michigan offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier. Napier and McElwain previously worked together at Alabama and Colorado State, and Nussmeier actually succeeded McElwain as the Tide's offensive coordinator in 2012. 

McElwain is clearly fond of Napier, hiring him as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach at Colorado State in 2012. The chance for a promotion would probably be enough to lure Napier to Gainesville.

However, Nussmeier is also an excellent option. He's had success as the OC at Fresno State, Washington and Alabama, but the situation at Michigan was too dire from him to make an impact in year one. The experiment in Ann Arbor didn't work out, so it wouldn't be surprising for Nussmeier to try his luck elsewhere. 

Defensive Coordinator

Name to Watch: D.J. Durkin

While McElwain may look elsewhere for an offensive coordinator, his defensive coordinator may already be on Florida's coaching staff.

D.J. Durkin just finished his first year as the Gators' DC but has been on the coaching staff since 2010. Florida may have been a disappointment in 2014, but that was hardly Durkin's fault. The Gators gave up just 21 points per game, finished second in the SEC in yards per rush allowed (3.16) and third in yards per pass attempt (5.9). 

There's an argument to be made that those numbers could be even better if Florida's offense was able to stay on the field longer instead of converting just 35 percent of its third downs. 

Other Positions

Name to Watch: Travaris Robinson, Chris Leak 

Robinson, better known as T-Rob, has been Florida's defensive backs coach since 2011 and is the team's recruiting coordinator. He's coached secondary players like Matt Elam and Vernon Hargreaves III, but he may be better known as an ace recruiter.

In fact, ESPN graded Robinson as the No. 1 recruiter in college football in October of last year. Florida has finished with a top-10 recruiting class nationally in each of the last three years, according to 247Sports.com. 

Since Robinson joined the Gators' staff, three defensive backs—Elam, Jaylen Watkins and Josh Evans—have been drafted into the NFL. 

Leak is an interesting option to keep on the staff. The former Gators quarterback has been on Muschamp's staff for two years, first as graduate assistant and then wide receivers coach. Florida's wide receivers have been an inconsistent group, but Demarcus Robinson has emerged this season with 47 catches for 774 yards and seven touchdowns. Additionally, Leak is also a good recruiter. 

Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.