Three Replacement Options for Florida's Tight End Coaching Position
The Florida Gators are in the market for a new tight ends coach.
This comes after news broke Saturday night that Larry Scott would be leaving Florida to take on head coaching responsibilities at Howard University.
Scott's departure marks the first shakeup to Florida's offensive coaching staff since Dan Mullen took over as head coach - unless you count Ja'Juan Seider leaving for Penn State shortly after Mullen retained him as a tight ends coach, transitioning from his previous position with the running backs.
With that being said, who could Mullen be calling about the vacant position on staff? Based on previous connections to Florida's coaching staff, here are three options.
Louisiana offensive line coach D.J. Looney
Following his three years of playing along the offensive line under Mullen at Mississippi State from 2009-11, Looney joined Mullen's staff in Starkville as a graduate assistant for a year before taking on the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator role at East Mississippi Community College, an hour south of MSU.
Following a two-year stint as Central Arkansas' tight ends and offensive tackles coach and spending the 2016 season as an analyst at Georgia, Looney found his way back to Starkville to coach tight ends for Mullen's final Bulldogs team.
In Looney's lone season of coaching tight ends in the SEC, Jordan Thomas ranked fourth among MSU pass catchers in receptions with 22, third in yards with 263, and second in touchdowns with three. Just months later, Thomas was selected by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
After Mullen left MSU, Looney found his way to the University of Louisiana to work under former Alabama and Clemson assistant Billy Napier. Looney has been a Ragin' Cajun ever since, as Napier is a huge fan of his coaching abilities.
“D.J. Looney is the perfect final piece of the puzzle for our staff on offense," Napier stated following Looney's hiring. "His experience recruiting in the state of Mississippi will be imperative for us going forward. I’m excited about his experience and knowledge both as a successful player and coach."
Considering his history with Mullen as a player and coach, with on-field success in a short time frame and a strong recruiting reference from Napier, Looney should be an obvious candidate for the position if he has interest.
Stetson quarterbacks coach Scott Sallach
Currently the quarterbacks coach and Director of Football Operations for Stetson University, Sallach has an extensive history with Mullen.
Mullen and Sallach coached together for eight years at Mississippi State. Sallach was one of Mullen's first hires in his new position as a head coach, after the two had played together at Ursinus College in the early 1990s.
Prior to MSU, Sallach served various offensive assistant coaching roles across the Ivy League, with Hamilton, Monmouth, Dartmouth, and Princeton.
At Mississippi State, Sallach and Mullen used tight ends in various ways, including the traditional in-line tight end, big slot - where Kyle Pitts often lined up in 2019, and in the backfield as H-backs and fullbacks like Malcolm Johnson, who now plays fullback for the Green Bay Packers after being drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the sixth round in 2015.
Hawthorne High School (FL) head coach Cornelius Ingram
A former Second Team All-American tight end during Mullen's first tenure at Florida, Ingram posted 64 receptions for 888 yards and eight touchdowns before being selected in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Following a short NFL career, derailed by injuries that began with a torn ACL during his senior season, Ingram became the head coach of Hawthorne High School football and girls basketball in Hawthorne, FL - just 30 minutes east of Gainesville.
Which, of course, has recently caught Mullen's eye.
Ingram has expressed interest in the open position on social media, retweeting the following tweets, among several others.
The room for concern would be that Ingram doesn't hold any college coaching or recruiting experience, should he be hired. However, Ingram has previously shown he can handle adversity, which could provide a feeling of optimism.
In 2018, Hawthorne High School was in danger of closing or being converted into a charter school, according to the Gainesville Sun. However, the school remained open for the year, and Ingram led the football team to an undefeated record. Though the team's streak came to an end in the playoffs, Ingram helped lift a school and football program out of a dark time.
There's a clear connection between Mullen and Ingram that dates back a while and would provide a nostalgic feeling for the Florida program dating back to the 2000s, as the team has begun to re-emerge as a top squad with back-to-back New Year's Six Bowl victories.
