Mississippi State DC Geoff Collins heading to Florida
New Florida coach Jim McElwain has found his defensive coordinator.
Collins has been at Mississippi State for four seasons under coach Dan Mullen, whose first season with the program was in 2009. Mullen, a former Florida offensive coordinator, hired Collins from Florida International. Collins served as MSU's defensive coordinator for two seasons after being the team's co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for two seasons.
In addition to coaching at FIU, Collins has also coached at UCF; his strong Florida ties are likely a major reason for his hire. Per the Clarion-Ledger, Collins signed a two-year contract extension with MSU in January.
Per the Commercial Dispatch, Mullen said he wasn't too happy with coaches leaving for what he termed were lateral moves.
Mullen on DC Geoff Collins to Florida: "I don't like anybody leaving for what I would view a lateral move, to be perfectly honest."
— Brandon Walker (@BWonStateBeat) December 16, 2014
Mississippi State's defense was ranked 80th in yards per game but was 10th in scoring defense, giving up 19.4 points per game. Florida's defense was ninth in yards per game in 2014 and gave up 21 points per game. The Bulldogs were ranked so low in yards per game because of their struggles against the pass. While MSU only gave up 126 yards per game on the ground, it gave up 285 yards a game through the air.
Current Florida interim coach D.J. Durkin served as the team's defensive coordinator in 2014 under fired coach Will Muschamp. He could and should be a candidate for a defensive coordinator job at another Power Five conference school. Durkin will coach Florida against East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl on January 3.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
