Gators hire former Boise St. coordinator
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Brent Pease is Florida's new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Pease spent the last six seasons at Boise State, five as receivers coach and the last one as offensive coordinator.
He has 11 years of play-calling experience, beginning at his alma mater, Montana (1996-98), and then Northern Arizona (1999-2000), Kentucky (2001-02) and Baylor (2003-05).
Pease said he shares the same pro-style offensive philosophies as coach Will Muschamp, who was scheduled to address the hire at a news conference Wednesday on campus.
"This was a perfect fit," Pease said in a statement. "I want to be multiple in our offensive formations and have a balanced attack with tempo. I firmly believe in being fundamentally sound and red-zone efficient. I want to develop our players in a pro-style offense that can help them at the next level."
Under Pease, the Broncos averaged 44.2 points and 481.3 yards last season and won 12 games.
Pease will replace Charlie Weis, who left last month to take the head coaching job at Kansas.
Muschamp hired Weis in hopes of turning around one of the program's worst offenses in the last 25 years. Instead, the Gators averaged fewer yards and points than they did in 2010 under former coach Urban Meyer. Florida ranked 102nd in total offense last season, averaging 334 yards a game.
The Gators will rely on Pease to mentor freshmen Jacoby Brissett and Jeff Driskel, the two quarterbacks expected to compete for the starting job this spring.
Pease most recently worked with Boise State's Kellen Moore, who became the first quarterback in the Football Bowl Subdivision to win 50 games. Moore was the first player in NCAA history to record four seasons with 3,000 yards of total offense and 3,000 yards passing. And he became just the sixth quarterback in NCAA history to finish his career with at least 14,000 yards passing.
Pease's resume also includes record-setting receivers Tyler Shoemaker, Austin Pettis, Titus Young and Jeremy Childs.
More importantly, Pease has experience in the Southeastern Conference.
At Kentucky, Pease helped turn the Wildcats into one of the top scoring offenses in the country. After posting a 2-9 season in Pease's first year, Kentucky finished 7-5 in 2002, which matched its best record since 1984, and ranked 23rd nationally and led the SEC in scoring offense.
Pease coached future NFL players Artose Pinner (Detroit Lions) and Jared Lorenzen (New York Giants) during his two seasons in Lexington.
Pinner led the SEC?in rushing and finished 13th nationally. Lorenzen ranked 23rd nationally in pass efficiency.
Growing up in Moscow, Idaho, Pease graduated from Montana in 1990 with a degree in health and human performance with an emphasis in social science. After two seasons at Walla Walla (Wash.) Community College, he played quarterback for the Grizzlies in 1985-86. He led the nation in total offense in 1986 and set nine school records during his career.
Pease was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings and played two years for the Houston Oilers (1987-88). He also played in the Canadian Football League, the World League of American Football and the Arena Football League. In 1991, he was the first player selected in the inaugural WLAF draft by the Birmingham Fire.