Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
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Fedora, Wickline Headed to Florida
1/10/2002 5:39:00 PM | Football
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee offensive coordinator Larry Fedora and offensive line coach Joe Wickline will be joining Ron Zook's staff at the University of Florida effective immediately. Fedora will serve as the Gators' running backs coach, while Wickline will handle the offensive line.
"It says a lot about our program here at Middle Tennessee when a team that annually competes for a national championship is coming after your coaches," said Blue Raider head coach Andy McCollum. "Last year we sent two coaches to the pros and now we are putting two at one of the top college programs in the country.
"Larry (Fedora) and Joe (Wickline) are not only top quality coaches, but they are great people and dear friends. I wish them all the best and appreciate the time, effort, and loyalty they provided during their three years at Middle Tennessee."
In three years as a head coach, Andy McCollum has funneled a number of assistants and graduate assistants into the professional, college and high school coaching ranks. Under McCollum, eight coaches are now either at the professional, college or high school level. In 2000, Miles Aldridge left for the Buffalo Bills, Mike Woodford joined the staff of the New Orleans Saints, and Steve Bird became the wide receiver coach for West Virginia. McCollum has also put three graduate assistants into the coaching ranks, including Marcus Walls, who is the defensive coordinator at Gallatin High School in Gallatin, TN, and Curtis Henderson, who just accepted a job coaching running backs for Texas Southern.
Fedora, from College Station, TX, guided the Blue Raider offense the past three years and helped them gain national recognition as one of the top threats in college football. The Blue Raiders were fifth nationally in total offense in 2001.
"I have mixed emotions about leaving Middle Tennessee," Fedora said. "Andy (McCollum) gave me an opportunity and I came here because I believed in him. We made this a better place, but everything accomplished was because of Andy McCollum. He took the chance on me, which is the only reason I have the opportunity I do now. It's sad because I will not be a part of the future of Blue Raider football, which is a future that is very, very bright."
Wickline, who played at Florida from 1977-80, will return to his alma mater where he was an assistant from 1982-83. Wickline also played a vital role in the success of the Blue Raiders as he developed the Sun Belt Conference's top offensive line. His Blue Raider lines have produced back-to-back 1,000-yard rushers for the first time at Middle Tennessee since 1994.
"In 21 years of coaching, I have never had a decision as difficult as this one in terms of relationships, people, and the setting I have worked in the past three years," Wickline stated. "Andy gave me an opportunity when I did not have a job and I am very fortunate to have been around him during this time. I feel we have done a decent job here and have built a solid foundation, but the best is yet to come for Middle Tennessee."
In all, the new Florida coaching staff will have four of its nine assistants having Middle Tennessee ties. Wickline and Fedora were coaches for the Blue Raiders the past three years, while Woodford, who will coach the secondary for the Gators, was an assistant for two years under McCollum. Ed Zaunbrecher, the Gators' offensive coordinator, played for the Blue Raiders from 1969-72.
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