Shame on me, Gators, but my hometown has stolen from you, as it was announced on
Thursday that your new defensive co-coordinator is moving north. Not more than a month after being hired away
from the Miami Dolphins (coming off a 4 year stint there as a linebacker
coach), George Edwards today went back to the NFL, dropping the “co-“ and
stepping into the blizzard and cold of Buffalo, New York.

Perhaps UF knew about this, or maybe Edwards was really that careful when talking with
the Bills, but it wasn’t until National Signing Day had come and passed that
the news was broken, leading to speculation of the Kiffin/Orgeron variety in
the press as to the conspiracy.

If it
was a play to lure recruits, you have to wonder how it was supposed to
work. I mean, did you know who George
Edwards was before you saw his name on Sportscenter, announcing him as half of
your new defensive mind?

Maybe
this did all happen very quickly and no one was keeping secrets, but a little
heads up from Mr. Edwards would have been nice. He’s going up there for more money of course, but also to be reunited
with Buffalo’s new head coach, Chan Gailey, who worked with him in the late
‘90s when Edwards was the linebackers coach in Dallas. He’ll also be reuniting with Marcus Stroud,
who played at Georgia in 1997 when the coach was an assistant there, and will
have firsthand knowledge of Bills personnel and ability from his time with
division rivals Miami.

All
in all, not much of a bump for us here in Gainesville, though, as Edwards
wasn’t even out on the road during recruiting trips and so shouldn’t really
cause any uproar from incoming newbies. Most of us here in Gainesville probably wouldn’t have been able to pick
the man out of a line-up.

Chuck
Heater was already sharing the defensive chores with Edwards and though it is
expected that defensive line coach Dan McCarney will be elevated to
co-coordinator, O-coordinator Steve Adazzio is expected to explore all options
for replacement, as Coach Meyer will be on a health leave.’

Go
Gators…

(If you’re a bit peeved with Edwards or Buffalo,
bear in mind that the current temp is 21.2 degrees without the wind chill,
there’s snow piled everywhere, and their gas bills make your GRU look like
nothing. Here’s to George Edwards, we
barely knew you down here…Now go buy some fleece.)

Josh Bauer is a Columnist for GatorTailgating.com