Top Five Candidates to Replace Brent Pease

By Matt Osborne

SouthernPigskin.com

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Since 2009, Florida has finished in the bottom three in the conference in total offense every season.



It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to see that Brent Pease’s run as the offensive coordinator at the University of Florida is coming to a close.

In 2009, Tim Tebow’s last season in Gainesville, the Gators led the SEC in total offense, averaging nearly 458 yards per game.

Since that time, Florida has finished in the bottom three in the conference in total offense every season. That statistic includes this season’s average of 336.9 yards per game, which currently ranks the Gators dead last in the league.

The Gators’ recent problems on the offensive side of the football stem from a variety of different factors. One of the more notable factors is the fact that Florida is attempting to employ an offense which does not fit the traditional identity of the institution.

During the most successful stretches in program history, the Gators have utilized an offensive system which allows their abundance of athletes to get the football in space on the perimeter. Even when Urban Meyer’s offenses were focused primarily on running the football with Tebow in the shotgun, there was still an emphasis on finding ways to get the football to the edge in order to take advantage of one-on-one mismatches.

Under the direction of Pease, the philosophical identity of the offense has completely shifted. The Gators no longer place special emphasis on spreading the field and utilizing their supreme athleticism. Rather, Florida has attempted to become a running offense predicated upon physicality and toughness.

The statistics obviously show that the current offensive structure is not working in Gainesville.

So, assuming that Pease will no longer be back with the team next fall, where can the Gators turn for an offensive coordinator?

Here are five prime candidates.

1. Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery

It may be difficult to land Montgomery considering the fact that he will be a prime head coaching candidate this offseason, but if there is a program capable of spending the money to lure him in, it is the Gators. Montgomery is currently orchestrating the nation’s premier offense, but his resume certainly doesn’t end there, as the Bears have finished second nationally in total offense each of the past two seasons under his direction. He is also the coach responsible for much of the mentoring associated with Case Keenum, Kevin Kolb, Nick Florence, Robert Griffin III and Bryce Petty. Florida would undoubtedly have to pay an extreme amount to even garner serious consideration, but his proven production is worth the effort.

2. Fresno State offensive coordinator Dave Schramm

The fact that Florida hired its current offensive coordinator from a Mountain West school may scare off some fans, but Schramm is a completely different coach than Pease. Schramm inherited a decent Fresno State offense which had spent many years in a pro-style attack, and quickly transitioned it into one of the most dynamic units in the country using an up-tempo spread scheme. In his first season at the school in 2012, the Bulldogs led the Mountain West scoring offense. The Bulldogs are doing even better this fall, as they currently rank fourth in the FBS in total offense with over 555 yards per game.

3. Indiana offensive coordinator Seth Littrell

It may sound crazy to think that Florida would ever seriously consider a coach from lowly Indiana, but Littrell’s track record speaks for itself. The season prior to his arrival in Bloomington, the Hoosiers finished 83rd in the country in total offense. In 2012, his first season at the school, that ranking rose all the way to No. 34. Through seven games in 2013, Indiana actually has one of the ten most prolific offenses in the FBS. Indiana is currently 3-4 on the season, but in its four losses, the Hoosiers’ defense has allowed an average of almost 48 points per game. Before coming to Bloomington, Littrell enjoyed an extremely successful stint as the offensive coordinator at Arizona, where his 2011 offense finished ranked 15th in total offense nationally.

4. Arizona State offensive coordinator Mike Norvell

Norvell is still relatively inexperienced as an offensive coordinator, but he has worked with a number of the top offensive minds in the country, including current Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn. Last season was his first as the sole offensive coordinator of a program, and he led the Sun Devils to a top 25 ranking in total offense. This season, Arizona State is averaging over 500 yards of offense per game. Norvell has also proven to be gifted in working with quarterbacks, as Arizona State signal caller Taylor Kelly set multiple school records last fall. Due to his inexperience, Norvell may be a little more of a risk than some of the other candidates, but the return on this risky investment could be extremely high.

5. Troy offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield

Edenfield is currently in his fourth season as offensive coordinator of the Trojans, and his offenses have finished ranked in the top 25 nationally in total offense in two of his first three seasons. This fall, Troy once again is enjoying the benefits of having one of the top offensive units in the country, averaging almost 487 yards per contest. In 2012, the Trojans faced a pair of SEC defenses – Tennessee and Mississippi State – and averaged over 645 yards of offense in those two outings. Although he does not have any experience coaching in a BCS conference, Edenfield’s offenses have been highly-productive wherever he has gone.