UTEP Football Rumors: DC Jeff Choate to Take Job at Florida

Rumor has it that UTEP's new defensive coordinator Jeff Choate will be leaving town before ever coaching a game in the Sun Bowl. While there is no confirmation from UTEP Athletics, word has it that Choate has accepted a special teams position at the University of Florida.

Choate came to the Miners under new head coach Sean Kugler after spending a season as the linebackers coach at Washington State. Prior to that, however, Choate spent six years at Boise State where he served as running backs coach (2006-2008), linebackers coach (2009), and nickel backs coach (2010-2011), and was also the special teams coordinator in each of his years with the Broncos.

At Florida, the Gators have been without a special teams coordinator for some time now, and coach Will Muschamp has been expected to round out his coaching staff in the coming days.

According to Hays Carlyon of The Florida Times Union:

"Muschamp said he expects to have his staff filled out in the next week. Bryant Young resigned as UF's defensive tackles coach Wednesday. Muschamp could elect to hire a special teams coach, as the Gators already have one defensive line coach in Brad Lawing."

Choate doesn't have direct ties to Gator head coach Muschamp, but did coach alongside Florida's offensive coordinator Brent Pease from 2006-2011 at Boise State.

Again, there has been no official word from either side as to the hiring of Choate, so at this point these are simply rumors, but we will continue to monitor the situation as it develops. Make sure to stay tuned to MinerRush and @sbnminerrush on Twitter for more information on this story, and all things UTEP sports.