A third candidate for the Yale football coaching vacancy has decided to stay put and not pursue the position.

Steve Addazio, the offensive line coach at the University of Florida, was promoted to offensive coordinator on Saturday, taking him out of the running for the Yale post. Addazio followed University of Massachusetts coach Don Brown and Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore, who withdrew their names from consideration earlier this month.

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A person familiar with the search process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations, told the News earlier this month that Brown and Gilmore were seen as the two front-runners to succeed Jack Siedlecki, who last month announced his retirement after 12 seasons as Yale’s head football coach. After they removed themselves from the search, the New Haven Register identified the 49-year-old Addazio, the former head coach at Cheshire (Conn.) High School, as the University’s top choice for the position.

There was only one complication: Addazio was also under consideration to succeed Florida’s current offensive coordinator, Dan Mullen, who earlier this month accepted the head coaching position at Mississippi State. The Florida job — while not a head coaching position — was seen as significantly more attractive than the Yale vacancy. Coordinators at major college football programs like Florida can make upward of $400,000 per year, and such a position can be a stepping-stone to a seven-figure head-coaching job like the one Mullen landed.

With Addazio out of the picture, it is unclear where the Athletics Department will turn next. In their most recent reports, the Register has identified only one other candidate who is said to be under consideration for the job: Jacksonville Jaguars defensive assistant Tom Williams, who has never before served as a head coach.

Officials in the Athletics Department have only said that they hope to name a head coach by the end of the year. Steve Conn, the director of Yale Sports Publicity, has declined to provide any specifics about the search’s progress or the candidates under consideration.

YALE DAILY NEWS