The Florida Gators seem to be making the right move on their new head coach. They have abandoned their interest in Chip Kelly in favor of Scott Frost.
When it comes to head coaching rumors in college football, Jon Gruden is still the name that generates the most buzz. However, Chip Kelly is a close second, and for a while, it looked like Florida was getting close to being Jim McElwain’s replacement.
But a new report by Yahoo’s Pat Forde should come as great news to Gators fans and horrible news for Nebraska fans: Florida is no longer pursuing Chip Kelly in favor of Scott Frost. It made more sense for Florida to look in-state for their next head coach, and even when they were courting Chip Kelly, they kept their options open.
It’s not that Kelly’s a bad coach, despite how disastrous his tenure in the NFL went. He’s clearly carved out a niche in college with his uptempo offense and his success in recruiting. But he hasn’t coached college football in over five years, while Scott Frost is becoming the latest Group of Five coach to lead his team to an undefeated season (so far) and a New Year’s Six bowl at the very least.
It’s not that Frost is the second coming of Urban Meyer, which is what Jim McElwain was supposed to be. But he’s a fresh of breath air and represents the new guard as far as college coaches. Frost is much more likely to stick around for the long haul than Kelly, and help bring Florida back to being an elite SEC team.
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With Florida moving on from Chip Kelly, UCLA is expected to be the favorite to land his signature. Even after Josh Rosen departs for the NFL, hiring Kelly ensures there’ll be no shortage of entertainment for Bruins fans.