Late in the annual college football head coaching cycle, Florida Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham's name has been placed in the rumor mill.

Grantham has emerged a top candidate for the head coaching vacancy at Mississippi State, ESPN's Adam Rittenberg reports.

The Gators' defensive coordinator joins New England Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge at the top of the list.

Grantham, 53, previously served as MSU's defensive coordinator in 2017 under Dan Mullen before the staff relocated to Gainesville, starting a new era of football for the Gators.

Prior to his time at Florida and Mississippi State, Grantham has served as the defensive coordinator for Louisville, Georgia, and the Cleveland Browns. Although he has served as an assistant head coach previously, Grantham has never taken the reigns of a program as a head coach.

Last offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals zeroed in on Grantham as their defensive coordinator candidate of interest, but after interviewing with the team, Grantham elected to stick at Florida, receiving a contract extension through 2022 with a bump to a $1.8 million salary.

It's clear that the Gators value Grantham and will do what it takes to retain him, but there's a difference in lateral moves to serve the same role - even if it provides a jump to the NFL - and considering a head coaching position. Especially an HC gig within the SEC, with a program that Grantham has previous experience with.

In 2019, the Gators led the SEC in sacks with 49, ranking second in yards and points per game allowed with 320.7 and 18.3 respectively, and third in interceptions with 16. All of those stats ranked top 20 across the nation, defensively.

This situation will be one to keep an eye on over the next several days. After one of the most productive defensive seasons in recent memory for the Gators, losing Todd Grantham would sting, especially if he were to - naturally - take some assistants from Florida's coaching staff with him.