Three weeks ago, Charlie Strong, the former Gator defensive coordinator, decided to leave his position at Florida for the Head Coaching job in Louisville, Kentucky. He clearly stated to the media that he would not try to take any of Coach Meyer’s assistant coaches and relocate them to Louisville. Now, the story is that two of the Gator assistant coaches are seriously looking into jobs at Louisville. The coaches in question are Vance Bedford, the cornerback coach, and Kenny Carter, the running back coach.

Rumors were spreading about the departure of Kenny Carter before the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Carter avoided questions at the press conference about the possible job of coaching the Cardinal running backs. Carter told the highly recruited running back and Florida commitment, Mack Brown, that he would be leaving his job at Florida. The decision of Coach Carter should be revealed no later than this weekend.

Coach Vance Bedford’s story is quite the same. Coach Strong offered him the defensive coordinator job for the Louisville Cardinals earlier this week. Bedford was reportedly recruiting in South Florida on Monday but that means nothing to Gator recruits looking forward to being mentored by Bedford at the University of Florida. Coach Bedford is expected to make his decision clear and public next week.

With Coach Carter and Bedford allegedly leaving Florida for the Cardinals, the Gators will be soon searching for replacements for the two coaches. As the Gators go deeper and deeper into the off-season, they seem to be losing more and more key recruits, players, and coaches because of the Meyer controversy. In this case, the leave of absence taken by Meyer is having a significant impact on the coaches at Florida.

(Gatorsports contributed to this story)

By: Justin Rectenwald

Tampa Bay