Texas HC Charlie Strong says he's not interested in Florida job

The Florida Gators are now in the market for a new head coach after parting ways with Will Muschamp after the former Texas head coach in waiting went 27-20 over four years in Gainesville.

He'll finish out the season by coaching the final two games, but talk about his potential replacement has already started, raising questions about current Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong, who coached in Gainesville in no fewer than four different stints -- he started there as a GA, returned as linebackers coach, returned after a year at Ole Miss, then returned again to work under Urban Meyer.

He's not considered one of the top candidates for the job, but he was asked about it during a Monday availability:

Charlie Strong, as expected, not interested in Florida. "I have a great job. There's still a lot of work here to get done."

— Max Olson (@max_olson) November 17, 2014

Unsurprisingly, it was the first question Strong fielded as the Longhorns enjoy a three-game winning streak and prepare for a postseason after reaching bowl eligibility against Oklahoma State on Saturday.

On one hand, it's exactly what Strong would say even if he was interested in the job. On the other hand, Texas is one of the few jobs in the country as good as Florida and Strong is finally getting some traction with his team and experiencing some success in Austin, which has reduced any criticism from the impatient fringes of the Texas fan base.

There are also a number of other coaches with Florida ties who could come under consideration for the job like South Carolina's Steve Spurrier and Mississippi State's Dan Mullen, while Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez is now a hot name again after the memories of his failed efforts at Michigan have been superseded by his success at Arizona.

So while the words of Strong basically don't mean anything, the fact that there isn't really any buzz about him as a candidate is much more significant than anything he could say.