No, it’s not that Jim McElwain got to school and realized he was in his boxers…that’d be preferable to the hellish, absurd week that the former Florida Head Coach has endured. Nor is he being mistaken for a man naked, humping a shark, although that is the most Florida thing anyone’s ever done. As of yesterday morning, McElwain is out at Florida, and Defensive Coordinator Randy Shannon is at the helm, trying to lead the Gators through what has been a tumultuous few weeks, to say the least. What exactly forced the departure of a coach with a 22-12 record during his time at Florida, and who will be filling those shoes at the end of the season?

Over the past two seasons, McElwain has been the epitome of, “good, not great” with the Gators, winning the SEC East in 2015 and 2016, but losing games that were not close vs. Alabama and Georgia last year to end the season. Additionally, Mac was brought in as an “offensive guru,” yet the poor QB play says otherwise; the Gator offense is ranked 124th in total offense. Yes, that’s out of 130 teams. McElwain’s comments last year after their bowl game loss concerning the Athletic Department’s commitment to football began the downward spiral; the relationship between AD Stricklin (who did not hire McElwain) and Coach Mac began to deteriorate at that point.

This past week’s blowout loss to Georgia was certainly the last straw, though it appears pretty obvious that he was fired regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s game. Mac led the Gators to a less than promising 3-4 record, with losses to Michigan, LSU and A&M and one score wins against Tennessee and Kentucky. Although there was no clear desire from the Florida faithful for him to be gone, his job came into serious jeopardy a week ago when, at a press conference, he claimed he and his players were receiving death threats. Florida almost immediately expressed skepticism, and at that point, his job security became a national question. You can see the full press conference below.

Fast forward to Sunday, October 29. Jim McElwain is officially gone and was forced to accept a “less than $12.76 million buyout.”  Randy Shannon is the interim head coach of the Gators. The former Miami Hurricanes coach is by no means prime pickings and the Gators’ athletic department will be looking for an experienced, big name coach to satisfy boosters and fans. Who are the possibilities, and who will UF try to lure away in order to bring back their winning ways?

Charlie Strong

While maybe not an obvious choice, the former Texas and current USF HC actually began his career Florida, and the Gators may be able to lure him back into big name ball. He’s recruited the state of Florida already, and can instill the discipline that the UF program so desperately needs. With multiple players facing legal action earlier this year for felony credit card fraud, Strong and his heralded zero-tolerance policy while at Texas would be an excellent choice to help bring the Florida Gators out of disarray. Although it would not be tough to bring Strong to Florida, questions about his coaching abilities arose during his time at Texas and he may end up being more of transitional coach than a tenured Gator HC.

Gary Patterson

Another coach that would need to be lured out of a current job, Gary Patterson should be at the top of the list for any program looking to create big numbers and play top tier football. Don’t let TCU’s loss to Iowa State deter you from the fact that Patterson is an extraordinary coach, with a 47-25 record in the past 5 years, and a 156-55 record overall. He’s been at TCU for quite a while, but it seems like the type of program to lure Patterson away from Fort Worth would be a flagship type, and Florida would more than welcome the offensive prowess, recruiting, and quarterback experience. If they can get Patterson, expect it to be a high value deal.

Dan Mullen

In my opinion, the 2nd best coach in the SEC, Dan Mullen has proven that he can turn a smaller underfunded school like Miss State into a powerhouse, albeit with a future NFL quarterback. SEC teams tend to like SEC people, and Florida would no doubt love to steal Mullen away from the Bulldogs. While coaching as the OC during the Meyer years at Florida, Mullen proved himself to be a fantastic coach, just not good enough to replace Urban Meyer. Of course, that was quite a big mistake, and many UF faithful believe that this time, Mullen needs to be at the top of the list. He very well might be; his .604 winning percentage as a head coach is fantastic, especially for a coach who began his head coaching career at Mississippi State.

Bob Stoops

Would he come out of retirement to coach a team? Probably not, but hey, nobody thought Urban Meyer would come back to coaching after literally almost dying because of football, and look where Ohio State is now. Stoops is indisputably the best option, but it would take some serious money and a unique situation to get the Oklahoma legend to move to Florida. However, he is relatively young, and I believe that with some serious coercion (monetary and otherwise) the Gators might be able to land the deal of the century. Who knows? For now, we’re just left wondering what direction the Gators are moving in, and if Randy Shannon will be able to salvage a historic program in disarray.