Nothing is official yet, but it appears that Florida’s coaching staff under Billy Donovan is headed for an extreme makeover.
Foxsports.com’s Jeff Goodman first reported that John Pelphrey is returning to Florida as an assistant. Pelphrey, who was fired by Arkansas last March, worked under Donovan at both Marshall and Florida from 1994-2002.
Top Florida assistant Larry Shyatt left for Wyoming earlier this month. But Florida may have more coaching defections on the way,
Rob Lanier is believed to be on the verge of returning to Texas as an assistant, where he worked from 1999-2001 under current coach Rick Barnes. And Richard Pitino may end up going back Louisville to re-unite with his father. Texas recently lost assistant coach Rodney Terry to a head coaching job at Fresno State, while Louisville lost assistant Steve Masiello to a head job at Manhattan.
If Lanier and Pitino both leave, Donovan will have more work to do to fill his staff. Names being floated around include former Gators player/Arkansas assistant Brett Nelson, Illinois assistant Jerrance Howard and former St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts.
Promote Darren Hertz. He’s been a loyal soldier for a LONG time.
The return of Pelphrey equals Awesome!
Kevin, is this just a natural case of being a victim of our own success, where some young guys are moving on and Shyatt was ready to be HC again, or was there a chemistry problem, something else?
Shyatt will be missed, as he was, by all accounts, an excellent teacher of defense, and was responsible for much of the defensive prowess of Gators teams since his arrival. Wyoming is a long way from Florida, and not just on a map!
Hate to lose Shyatt but I love getting Pelphry back. Maybe he has an inside line on a stud recruit or two that he was working on for Arkansas?