With Jim McElwain officially out the door as the head coach at Florida, the talk now turns to what direction AD Scott Stricklin will go in picking somebody to lead the Gators going forward.
Much of the early speculation has been centered on a coach from Stricklin’s last job (which happens to double as his alma mater): Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen. A former Florida offensive coordinator who won national titles with Urban Meyer in Gainesville, the Bulldogs’ head coach seemingly makes a ton of sense given his reputation and accomplishments over the years in Starkville.
Bovada LV has not surprisingly concurred with that sentiment, as the oddsmaker installed Mullen as the favorite to take over as the next Florida coach. Here’s the full list of odds from Las Vegas, including the very interesting long shot of former SEC head coach Lane Kiffin:
Dan Mullen 9/2
Scott Frost 5/1
Willie Taggart 6/1
Memphis’ Mike Norvell 7/1
Virginia Tech’s Justin Fuentes 8/1
Chip Kelly 8/1
Bob Stoops 10/1
Les Miles 12/1
Randy Shannon 15/1
Jon Gruden 22/1
USF’s Charlie Strong 22/1
FAU’s Lane Kiffin 33/1
Steve Spurrier 75/1
Mullen joined several members of the list in denying interest in the job -- as you would expect him to say at this point in the season. While MSU’s head coach may be playing a little coy when it comes to taking the Florida job, that was not the exact same tact employed by somebody else on the list.
Slow down uncle luke!! Beat Marshall!!!! https://t.co/stqrx9yfC2
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) October 31, 2017
If the University of Florida put Lane kiffin and Randy Shannon together they will win a National Championship in less than years
— Luther Luke Campbell (@unclelukereal1) October 30, 2017
If nothing else, this will certainly be an interesting and entertaining coaching search for the Gators.