Florida confirms hiring of Virginia Tech's Torrian Gray as defensive backs coach

A day after reports surfaced suggesting Florida would hire Virginia Tech defensive backs coach Torrian Gray to the same position, the school has confirmed the news through its official website.

"We're excited to have Torrian join the Gator family," said head coach Jim McElwain.

After firing the young and relatively green Kirk Callahan in January, Florida is moving forward with a career defensive backs coach — and making sure to tout his experience.

Gray spent the past 17 years coaching the defensive back position, including two years in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears. During that span, he coached five All-America defensive backs and 16 all-conference selections.

Gray returns to Florida after spending a decade at his alma mater leading some of the nation's best defensive backfields. In his 10 seasons in Blacksburg coaching the secondary, his unit allowed just 185.0 passing yards per game and a 106.5 opponent passer rating – both ranked second in the nation over that span. Opposing quarterbacks completed just 50.4 percent of their passes in those 10 seasons, the lowest percentage of any defense in the nation.

With the move, Florida seems to have a complete coaching staff for the 2016 season. Previously, reports indicated a possibility that running backs coach Tim Skipper would shift to coaching defensive backs, and create space for more movement on McElwain's staff, but Gray's hiring suggests the Gators are more likely — though not guaranteed — to stand pat.