Jim McElwain has had a long and interesting journey during his career in college football. He may not be a household name as of yet, but after his impressive coaching accomplishments, he should be. Now, reports have confirmed McElwain as the new head coach for the Florida Gators football team.
McElwain is now 52-years-old, and he has worked in college football for 30 of them. He started off as a grad assistant at Eastern Washington. Eventually, he made his way over to Alabama, where he worked as offensive coordinator under Nick Saban. While there, he helped jumpstart A.J. McCarron and get him up to tiptop playing condition.
That is just the tip of the iceberg. The list goes on and on. Bleacher Report expands on McElwain's coaching success:
"McElwain's portfolio of coaching success includes mentoring not just Alabama's great quarterbacks but also overseeing the development of Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and Doak Walker Award winner Trent Richardson while with the Crimson Tide..."
This mountain of impressive stats has not gone unnoticed. McElwain has spent the three years as the man in charge over at Colorado State. However, according to Yahoo Sports, Jim is moving on to bigger and better things:
"Jim McElwain has been hired to be Florida's next head football coach...Florida's negotiations with the Colorado State football coach had reached an impasse Wednesday night...The sticking point in the talks to make McElwain the Gators' next head football coach was the $7.5 million buyout clause in McElwain's current contract with CSU. But the Colorado State administration on Thursday negotiated a final buyout figure of Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley and a contingent of Florida administrators met with McElwain for several hours at his house on Tuesday night to hammer out the deal..."
What do you think? Will McElwain continue to add to his long list of achievements? Are the Gators making the right move by bringing him on board? Let us know in the comment section below.
