Mutt the Hoople
11-28-2014, 11:26 PM
This is an Ole Miss source:
http://hottytoddy.com/2014/11/28/rumors-of-freeze-fleeing-to-florida-run-rampant/
Now from Florida:(stole this copy from Sixpack):
GatorBait.net brings you the latest buzz and information on the Florida coaching search from sources around the 247Sports network.
A candidate all but lined up?
We reported Wednesday that a second source had informed us that Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze has legitimate interest in the Florida job and would seriously consider it if offered.
Our sources have only solidified their positions on that line of thinking in the last 48 hours. From what we're hearing now, not only would Freeze consider the Florida job, but he would likely lean toward taking it as things stand now.
The story with Freeze has always been two-fold: 1) Is he fooling the people close to him into thinking he has legitimate interest to draw a raise from Ole Miss? 2) Is Florida actually interested in him and/or close to offering him the job?
Starting with the latter, at least two media entities have already claimed Freeze has an offer. GatorBait.net has not been able to confirm that, and any offer Freeze may have would likely be an informal one anyway.
Even though it's possible Jeremy Foley has made some progress in lining up who he wants to offer first and discussing it some via back channels, he's not going to publicly extend a formal offer until the regular season is over for a coach.
That said, it's really just semantics. If Foley has his guy, there's almost certainly been some groundwork put in place already.
Remember, Foley has been working on this since just after the Missouri loss. He'll want to move quickly to help salvage Florida's recruiting class, which means being pretty sure about his top target is important.
If Freeze is the guy, it's easy to envision a scenario where both Florida and Ole Miss play their games at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, then Foley flies out to Oxford after getting permission to speak with Freeze late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. In that case, there could be movement on the coaching front as early as Sunday or Monday.
That would be absolute best-case scenario for Florida, allowing the Gators to potentially salvage not one but two recruiting weekends before the dead period in mid-December.
But back to our first point: Is Freeze serious about considering Florida? After all, he's an Oxford native, he's doing well at Ole Miss and the Rebels have all but guaranteed him an extension and a raise.
Freeze could just as easily be fooling the people close to him into thinking he has serious interest in the Florida job only to draw a bigger raise out of Ole Miss. Both of our sources close to Freeze insist he's serious about the job, though.
It's a move that makes sense: Florida can pay well, Freeze would have a much stronger recruiting base and he can more consistently hope to compete for conference and national titles.
In any case, we should get some clarity on the Freeze front soon. Freeze's window for contact for the job would open Saturday night, and there's absolutely no reason for Jeremy Foley to wait if Freeze is the guy he's targeting.
Freeze is the top name to keep an eye on going into this weekend.
Strike Swinney from the list?
In the last week, we reported via a source that there was a lot of buzz from people close to Dabo Swinney that there was interest in him for the Florida job.
On Thursday evening, multiple reports surfaced that Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris has been offered and is expected to accept the SMU job. 247Sports' Clint Brewster first reported the Morris news.
Along with those reports, Chip Brown, who is best known for breaking major conference realignment stories, reported that Morris had an offer in place from SMU for two weeks and had been waiting to decide to see whether Swinney would get the Florida job.
There are a couple reasons Morris would have wanted to wait: 1) He would have likely been a strong candidate for the Clemson head coaching job if Swinney left. 2) He would have wanted to follow Swinney to Florida as offensive coordinator.
Either way, it seems clear if the reports on Morris are accurate that Florida's first move isn't to Swinney. Morris felt sure enough that Swinney likely wasn't leaving that he was ready to make his own move on the coaching ladder.
As we reported on Sunday when Swinney's name was first being linked to the job, for a variety of reasons, Swinney just doesn't seem to make much sense for Florida.
Most likely? Swinney had at least some interest in the Florida job but isn't high enough on the list to feel good about his chances of landing the gig, thus prompting Morris' reported move to SMU.
http://hottytoddy.com/2014/11/28/rumors-of-freeze-fleeing-to-florida-run-rampant/
Now from Florida:(stole this copy from Sixpack):
GatorBait.net brings you the latest buzz and information on the Florida coaching search from sources around the 247Sports network.
A candidate all but lined up?
We reported Wednesday that a second source had informed us that Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze has legitimate interest in the Florida job and would seriously consider it if offered.
Our sources have only solidified their positions on that line of thinking in the last 48 hours. From what we're hearing now, not only would Freeze consider the Florida job, but he would likely lean toward taking it as things stand now.
The story with Freeze has always been two-fold: 1) Is he fooling the people close to him into thinking he has legitimate interest to draw a raise from Ole Miss? 2) Is Florida actually interested in him and/or close to offering him the job?
Starting with the latter, at least two media entities have already claimed Freeze has an offer. GatorBait.net has not been able to confirm that, and any offer Freeze may have would likely be an informal one anyway.
Even though it's possible Jeremy Foley has made some progress in lining up who he wants to offer first and discussing it some via back channels, he's not going to publicly extend a formal offer until the regular season is over for a coach.
That said, it's really just semantics. If Foley has his guy, there's almost certainly been some groundwork put in place already.
Remember, Foley has been working on this since just after the Missouri loss. He'll want to move quickly to help salvage Florida's recruiting class, which means being pretty sure about his top target is important.
If Freeze is the guy, it's easy to envision a scenario where both Florida and Ole Miss play their games at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, then Foley flies out to Oxford after getting permission to speak with Freeze late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. In that case, there could be movement on the coaching front as early as Sunday or Monday.
That would be absolute best-case scenario for Florida, allowing the Gators to potentially salvage not one but two recruiting weekends before the dead period in mid-December.
But back to our first point: Is Freeze serious about considering Florida? After all, he's an Oxford native, he's doing well at Ole Miss and the Rebels have all but guaranteed him an extension and a raise.
Freeze could just as easily be fooling the people close to him into thinking he has serious interest in the Florida job only to draw a bigger raise out of Ole Miss. Both of our sources close to Freeze insist he's serious about the job, though.
It's a move that makes sense: Florida can pay well, Freeze would have a much stronger recruiting base and he can more consistently hope to compete for conference and national titles.
In any case, we should get some clarity on the Freeze front soon. Freeze's window for contact for the job would open Saturday night, and there's absolutely no reason for Jeremy Foley to wait if Freeze is the guy he's targeting.
Freeze is the top name to keep an eye on going into this weekend.
Strike Swinney from the list?
In the last week, we reported via a source that there was a lot of buzz from people close to Dabo Swinney that there was interest in him for the Florida job.
On Thursday evening, multiple reports surfaced that Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris has been offered and is expected to accept the SMU job. 247Sports' Clint Brewster first reported the Morris news.
Along with those reports, Chip Brown, who is best known for breaking major conference realignment stories, reported that Morris had an offer in place from SMU for two weeks and had been waiting to decide to see whether Swinney would get the Florida job.
There are a couple reasons Morris would have wanted to wait: 1) He would have likely been a strong candidate for the Clemson head coaching job if Swinney left. 2) He would have wanted to follow Swinney to Florida as offensive coordinator.
Either way, it seems clear if the reports on Morris are accurate that Florida's first move isn't to Swinney. Morris felt sure enough that Swinney likely wasn't leaving that he was ready to make his own move on the coaching ladder.
As we reported on Sunday when Swinney's name was first being linked to the job, for a variety of reasons, Swinney just doesn't seem to make much sense for Florida.
Most likely? Swinney had at least some interest in the Florida job but isn't high enough on the list to feel good about his chances of landing the gig, thus prompting Morris' reported move to SMU.