Shane Matthews this season will join the Florida football radio team as the full-time analyst, and he had an opportunity to discuss the role with Pat Dooley on “Another Dooley Noted” podcast last week.

Matthews offered color commentary at road games last season, but now will join newly hired ‘Voice of the Gators’ Sean Kelley in their first season in the booth this fall, debuting on Sept. 3 when Florida hosts Utah in the season opener at 7 p.m.

“I’m excited about it, obviously big shoes to fill,” Matthews said, beginning around the 19:50 mark. “Lee did a tremendous job all the years he did it. … Now he’s got grandkids to deal with and to watch on Friday nights. He and Mick had such great chemistry. It probably makes sense with Sean coming in, we’re going to crank this thing up with no practice and see how it goes.”

Matthews said there’s no preparation for the color analyst, and the biggest hurdle for him will be when players change their numbers. But the former Florida great keeps up with college football closely enough to already know the opponents pretty well, he said.

Matthews is replacing Lee McGriff, who was a staple in the Gators radio booth for 27 years and retired this past spring. The former Gators quarterback threw for 74 touchdowns and over 9,000 passing yards in his career. The Cleveland, Miss., native was the SEC Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991, and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy during the 1991 season, according to a Florida release.