The buzz since the announcement on Saturday evening that Will Muschamp will be the next head coach at Florida has all surrounded former Miami defensive coordinator Randy Shannon. Earlier on Monday, a report surfaced on Twitter that a private plane was flying to Miami from Austin, with the obvious inference being that Texas officials were on the plane and perhaps intended to bring Randy Shannon back to Austin as the next Texas DC. Shortly thereafter, rumors surfaced, also on Twitter, that Shannon was in fact already on campus. Speculation, all.
Of course, that wasn't the only drama on Monday afternoon. Bellmont officially posted the DC job online and the specific job requirements seemingly brought another candidate into the mix -- Florida defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. The "preferred" job qualifications posted by Texas indicated that the candidate must have a minimum of 12 years experience coaching college football and a minimum of seven years experience in the NFL. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, those requirements exactly match Austin's resume -- he's spent 12 years in college and seven in the NFL.
Hookem's Alan Trubow caught up with Austin this evening, who said that he has not been contacted by Texas and also has not discussed the possibility of remaining on Will Muschamps staff at Florida, though most speculations seems to center around what seems like the rather slim chance that current Alabama DC Kirby Smart would leave Tuscaloosa. However, the Statesman did cite another report by 247Sports in which a Florida assistant coach and a Florida source both indicated that Austin to Austin was a legitimate possibility.
Comparing Austin to Shannon, the latter has much more experience as a head coach and a defensive coordinator, while 2010 was Austin's first season calling plays on defense after a long career as a defensive backs coach. The Longhorns would probably need to hire a linebackers coach if they decide on Austin and they already have an extremely accomplished defensive backs coach in Duane Akina, so Austin's expertise doesn't add a lot to the overall makeup of the defensive coaching staff. Since Shannon could not only coach the linebackers, but also has a better reputation as a recruite -- he seems like the safer choice at this point and Austin seems like more of a back-up plan than the top candidate, which is surely still Shannon.
At this point, though, it's all just a waiting game.