Florida Gators defensive coordinator Geoff Collins will be hired as the next head coach of the Temple Owls.

Maybe the toughest part of sustaining high-level success in college football is retaining top assistant coaches or replacing them without missing a beat when they leave for promotions.

There's good news and bad news in Florida's 6-1 start under new coach Jim McElwain. The good news? The Gators are competing at a very high level again.

The bad news?

The Gators' success already has some top-level assistants attracting interest from other FBS schools with head coaching openings. Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman reports that UCF will give current Florida defensive coordinator Geoff Collins "a close look" for the head coaching job that came open when George O'Leary resigned over the weekend.

Collins has led the Florida defense to a strong performance in 2015, most notably altering the system slightly to create more pressure up front. That increased pressure has helped the Gators rank fifth nationally in turnover margin.

The Gators rank 18th in the country in total defense and 19th in the nation in scoring defense, helping Florida to a 6-1 start and a one-game lead in the SEC East standings heading into a pivotal showdown with Georgia on Saturday.

The current Florida defensive coordinator has ties to UCF. He spent his first two years as an assistant coach at the FBS level working with the linebackers for the Knights from 2008-09.

Collins is currently the highest-paid assistant coach on staff at Florida, making an annual salary of $600,000. He will also receive a $125,000 retention bonus if he is still employed at Florida on Feb. 14, 2016 and a $150,000 retention bonus if he is still employed on Feb. 14, 2017.

Whether Collins ends up with the UCF job or not, one thing is clear. Other programs around the country are already taking notice of Florida's success with McElwain at the helm.

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