A hole on Jim McElwain‘s Florida coaching staff has officially been plugged.
Following up on reports that made the rounds Thursday, UF announced Friday that McElwain has pulled the trigger on hiring Ja’Juan Seider. The running backs coach at West Virginia, the Gators listed no official title for the assistant in their press release.
That said, Seider is expected to fill the same role with the Gators, with current running backs coach Tim Skipper likely to move to the other side of the ball.
Seider, a former WVU quarterback, has spent the past four seasons with the Mountaineers. He was also a graduate assistant at his alma mater from 2008-10.
Prior to his second stint at WVU, he coached the same positional group at Marshall from 2010-12. During that time, he was named Conference USA Recruiter of the Year in 2012. He was still considered one of the top recruiters in the Big 12, with his main area of focus in that arena being South Florida.
“We are excited to have Ja’Juan in the Gator family,” McElwain said in a statement. “A lot is talked about his ability to recruit, but he is more than that - he is a great coach as well. Recruiting is about relationships and he does a great job of connecting and relating to players not only while is recruiting them, but while they are play for him and well after their playing days are over.”