Temple to announce new football coach Addazio today

"Vitamin A" is coming to North Broad Street.

Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio, known as "Vitamin A" for his high-energy motivational pregame pep talks and strong relationships with players, will be named the head football coach at Temple today, sources told the Daily News yesterday.

An announcement is scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Liacouras Center.

Addazio replaces Al Golden, who left Dec. 12 for the University of Miami.

As is his policy, athletic director Bill Bradshaw has not spoken about the coaching search. Addazio could not be reached for comment.

"He's going to be a good head coach. He knows his stuff, man," said Eagles rookie wide receiver Riley Cooper, who played at Florida.

Word quickly filtered among the Florida players yesterday.

"Proud of Addazio! He got the head coaching job at Temple. Gonna miss ya coach," offensive guard Jon Halapio wrote on Facebook.

On Twitter, quarterback Trey Burton wrote, "Congratulations Coach Addazio!! Appreciate ya!"

The move comes on the heels of reports that Addazio, 51, was heading to the University of Texas as the offensive line coach. Texas officials had denied the report Tuesday night.

Addazio, was looking for a job after Urban Meyer announced his retirement at Florida and was replaced by Will Muschamp. Muschamp was not expected to retain Addazio, although he had not made an announcement about his coaching staff. Muschamp had indicated he wanted an offensive coordinator with a pro and college background.

Meyer is scheduled to coach in the Outback Bowl against Penn State on Jan. 1. Addazio also will coach in the bowl game, the Orlando Sentinel reported, citing a source.

Sources said Temple had completed the interview process Monday and officials were finalizing their decision yesterday among three candidates.

Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley was told yesterday afternoon that he would not be the choice, another source said. Bradley interviewed last week.

The source said Bradley was disappointed with the decision. He is in Clearwater, Fla., with the Nittany Lions as they prepare for their bowl game.

Former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie was reportedly the other finalist. Davie has been working as an ESPN analyst.

Golden took five staff members with him to Miami, including defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio, who would have been the favorite to replace Golden at Temple.

Offensive coordinator Matt Rhule had interviewed for the Temple job and was cleaning out his office yesterday afternoon, a source said.

Addazio was part of two BCS national championship teams with the Gators as the offensive line coach. He was hired in 2005 as the tight ends coach and added the offensive line in 2006. In 2007, he coached the offensive line and added the title of assistant head coach in 2008.

He spent the last 2 years as offensive coordinator, an unusual promotion for an offensive line coach.

Florida has gone 20-6 since Addazio took over as offensive coordinator, but five of those losses came this season.

"He got a lot of criticism for the offensive coordinating this year, which he didn't need or didn't deserve or whatnot," Cooper said.

Addazio had been at Florida throughout Meyer's tenure and was appointed interim head coach last year when Meyer stepped down to deal with medical issues. For his work in keeping Florida's recruiting class together, Addazio was given the title of associate head coach.

Meyer has said Addazio is among the best coaches in America. The two met on the recruiting trail when Meyer was an assistant at Notre Dame in the late 1990s.

Addazio was born and raised in Connecticut and went to Central Connecticut State. He has 20 years of experience as a college assistant, with various roles as an offensive line or tight ends coach at Western Connecticut State, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Indiana and Florida. His only experience as a head coach was at Cheshire High School in Connecticut from 1988-94.

He has strong ties in the Northeast and is known as a strong recruiter, helping Florida annually bring in among the best recruiting classes in the country. His contacts also should help as he assembles a coaching staff.

Daily News sports writer Les Bowen contributed to this report.