Jim McElwain was a key member of the dynamite and demolition crew that caused the downfall of Florida’s football powerhouse. Now, ironically, he has been put in charge of repairing what he once wrecked.
McElwain, the Colorado State head coach who was hired to lead the Gators on Thursday, was the offense coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama in 2009 when the Crimson Tide crushed Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow and the undefeated Gators 32-13 in the SEC Championship Game. McElwain’s Alabama offense rolled up 490 yards that day and stampeded a UF defense that was ranked No. 4 in the nation.
Tebow — in his final collegiate season — cried after the game.
And Meyer quit.
And Florida football hasn’t been the same since.
After enduring four boring, snoring years under offensively-challenged former coach Will Muschamp, UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley made it clear when Muschamp was fired a few weeks ago that the new coach must bring some offensive flair and excitement back to Gainesville. Gator fans once flocked to the Swamp to revel in legendary coach Steve Spurrier’s “Fun N Gun” offense, but in recent years there has been a mass exodus of fans who simply grew weary of enduring Muschamp’s “Grunt and Punt” philosophy.
Now the Gators have decided to go from one Nick Saban disciple to another.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
Maybe Foley’s thought process was this: “OK, I hired Muschamp, a former Saban defensive coordinator, and he was a bust. So maybe the trick is to hire McElwain, a former Saban OFFENSIVE coordinator!”
Hey, it worked for Florida State when the Seminoles replaced the iconic Bobby Bowden with Jimbo Fisher, another former offensive coordinator under Saban – the Jedi Master of college football.
Can McElwain work the same kind of magic in Gainesville that Jimbo has worked in Tallahassee? Foley must think so, but, then again, Foley thought Muschamp was going to become the next Bob Stoops.
Of course, Foley wasn’t alone. Many believed Muschamp to be college coaching’s next rock star. Which just goes to show that coaching hirings and firings are, in many ways, a crap shoot. Foley, one of the most respected ADs in the country, whiffed on the hirings of Muschamp and Ron Zook, but hit grand slams with Meyer and basketball coach Billy Donovan. The Magic once fired Doc Rivers, who is now one of the top coaches in the NBA. The Cleveland Browns once canned Bill Belichick, who is now perhaps the greatest coach in NFL history.
Unfortunately in today’s off-the-cuff Twitterverse, media and fans are already making instantaneous judgments and running Internet polls on whether McElwain is a good hire or a bad one. There are some who believe Foley should have tried to land a sexier, splashier name from a bigger, better program. I don’t necessarily agree. As I keep saying, the two greatest Gator coaches of all-time – Spurrier (Duke) and Meyer (Utah) – didn’t come from high-profile programs.
McElwain, 52, took over at Colorado State in 2012 and inherited a program that was coming off three consecutive 3-9 seasons. After going 4-8 in his first year, the Rams went 8-6 last year and are now 10-2 in his third season. He was named the Mountain West Conference’s coach of the year on Tuesday after transforming the Rams into an offensive juggernaut. Colorado State averages 498 yards per game (13th best in the nation) and has the nation’s second-most efficient quarterback in Garrett Grayson and the top receiver in yards per game (149.1) and touchdowns (17) in Rashard Higgins.
We know McElwain has been a good offensive coordinator at the most prestigious program in college football. We also know he’s been a good head coach at a much lesser program. But what we don’t know is if he can be what Gator Nation demands: A great head coach at a major program in the toughest conference in college football.
With all due respect to all of you fans and all of us media members, it doesn’t matter today what you or I think of this hire. It doesn’t matter if the hire is sexy or dull. It doesn’t matter if the new coach comes from the Mountain West or the Missouri Valley.
All that matters is if Jim McElwain can win and win big at the University of Florida.
Everything else is just noise in the system.
He once made Tim Tebow cry, but can he make Gator Nation smile once again?
mbianchi@tribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740 AM.
