Florida TEs Coach Larry Scott to Take Head Coaching Job at Howard

Larry Scott will leave Florida to join Howard University as a Head Coach.

Florida tight ends coach Larry Scott has left Florida to coach at Howard University, an FCS program located in Washington D.C.

Scott was with Florida since Dan Mullen began his tenure and coached at Tennessee prior to taking the job at Florida. Scott played college football at USF from 1996-99 and took an administrative role in 2005 to oversee high school relations at his alma mater. 

SOURCE: Florida TE coach Larry Scott will be the new head coach at Howard, a person with knowledge of the situation tells The Athletic.

Scott went 4-2 as Miami's interim head coach in 2015 and has been at Tennessee and Florida since then.

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) February 2, 2020

Scott is known as a productive recruiter, especially in his hometown of Tampa. At Florida, Scott was also the area recruiter for Polk County, which partly in thanks to Larry Scott, is back in UF control (except for Clemson). His connections throughout the state of Florida were vital to land 2019 prospects like Keon Zipperer, Lloyd Summerall Jr, and Deyavie Hammond, as all three were from Lakeland High School in the heart of Polk County. 

In the 2020 cycle, he helped recruit DE Johnnie Brown, TE Jonathan Odom, DT Gervon Dexter, PR/KR Fenley Graham, among a few others.

On the field, Scott is credited with developing star TE Kyle Pitts, who was added to the Walter Camp Player of the Year list as a semifinalist in 2019. 

Looking forward, this may affect Damarcus "Dee" Beckwith’s recruitment, as Scott was the primary recruiter for him. This will be something to keep an eye on, and barring any last-second changes it seems as if Scott leaving could be the nail in the coffin for Florida's chances of landing the three-star prospect. 

As for the 43-year-old Scott, this will be his first opportunity to truly run his own program, as he has been a position coach throughout his career. 

Scott does have a head coaching record of 4-2, as he held the interim role at Miami after Al Golden was fired. The 2015 Hurricanes ended up losing to Washington State in the Sun Bowl, and Mark Richt was hired soon after to coach the Hurricanes. 

Larry Scott was also linked to the USF opening, prior to the Bulls hiring former Clemson wide receivers coach Jeff Scott to lead the program. 

The news was surprising to many Florida players such as Keon Zipperer and new TE signee Jonathan Odom. 

😞 https://t.co/5f0OVDN9hj

— Keon Zipperer (@_KeonZ) February 2, 2020

💔😭 https://t.co/ltRnoHz7wR

— Jonathan Odom (@Odom_87) February 2, 2020

This will also lead to another coaching search for the Gators when Mullen wanted to keep a consistent staff moving forward. Florida will have to replace an exceptional recruiter and a tremendous on the field coach, someone who his players loved to play for. 

It will be interesting to see who the Gators acquire moving forward, as some changes may occur with the TE position being open now that Scott has moved on.