Florida wide receivers coach Aubrey Hill has resigned from his duties as Florida coach and recruiting coordinator for "personal reasons," the school announced Friday. Hill, who came to UF from the University of Miami, had been named in two separate reports by Yahoo!'s Charles Robinson about Miami skirting NCAA rules in recruiting with the help of Nevin Shapiro and Sean Allen.
"Aubrey informed me he was resigning for personal reasons that have nothing to do with the University of Florida," Muschamp said. "Aubrey didn’t want to be a distraction to our team and our football program and he thought it was best for him to move on.
"I appreciate Aubrey’s efforts and wish him the best moving forward. He will always remain a Gator."
Hill was regarded as a better recruiter than a coach, but his contributions as a recruiter were dubious in their own right. Hill is a Miami native, but the Gators have snagged one recruit from Dade and Broward Counties combined in their 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes, DE/LB Bryan Cox Jr., and missed out on big-time Miramar cornerback Tracy Howard on National Signing Day in 2012. Hill had better success in Palm Beach County: Freshman Jessamen Dunker and 2013 commitment Roderick Johnson are both from there.
Hill, who played at Florida from 1991 to 1994, released his own statement:
"I have too much love and respect for this program to become a distraction as I deal with some personal issues," Hill said in a prepared statement. "I’m thankful for the opportunity to have worked with Coach Muschamp, a tremendous staff and great group of players. The future is very bright here and the University of Florida will always have a special place in my heart. Go Gators."
Florida will use offensive coordinator Brent Pease, who coached wide receivers at Boise State, and graduate assistant Bush Hamdan, who played for Pease in Boise, as co-wide receivers coaches. He came to Florida in 2012 from Sacramento State, where his bio credited him with an "intricate role" in calling the Statue of Liberty play that helped Boise State beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
Are you sad to see Hill go? Can Pease handle the duties of coaching up a group of wide receivers that languished under Hill's tutelage in 2011? Tell us in the comments.