Florida, Colorado State and Jim McElwain finally settled protracted negotiations related to his record buyout on Dec. 4, 2014. That left little time before the start of the month-long dead period that began Dec. 15 and ended Thursday.

McElwain ventured away from Gainesville, Fla., on a recruiting spree almost immediately, but without even a single assistant coach in place and the proverbial ink on his contract drying, he could do little to reverse an abysmal 2015 recruiting class — except to set up the Gators for a final 21-day flurry.

Florida currently holds eight commitments, including just one recruit rated above three stars: four-star athlete Derrick Dillon. According to 247Sports, the Gators ranked dead last in the SEC and 81st nationally when the dead period ended Thursday, behind schools like Old Dominion and South Alabama, which were FCS programs a few years ago.

According to ESPN, Florida returns 58 scholarship players next season, which leaves 27 spots based on the NCAA maximum of 85.

As Will Muschamp alluded to at his farewell press conference with the Gators, this team returns some talent, especially on defense. But the team especially needs to find a quarterback that fits McElwain’s offense, whether that’s redshirt freshman Will Grier or someone else. The Gators also need offensive linemen, a big-time receiver, linebackers and depth everywhere.

“We’re trying to catch up a little bit from behind. I get it,” McElwain said, according to ESPN. “I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday. I’ve been doing this for a while. We’ve got a lot of ground to make up … But you know what, when we took the job we knew that there would be some [challenges]. It’s going to take a while.”

No SEC school, and maybe no school in all of FBS, faces a more crucial few weeks of recruiting. Florida expects to compete for division, conference and national titles every year, and McElwain’s honeymoon phase won’t last long. It has to pain Gators fans to see Urban Meyer win a national championship at Ohio State in just his third season.

Even in a down SEC East, it seems unrealistic to expect McElwain to get the team to that level in 2015, especially without some more playmakers on offense. But this recruiting class is vital as a springboard for 2016, both in terms of personnel and buzz.

Adding former Mississippi State defensive coordinator Geoff Collins and longtime Miami recruiting ace Randy Shannon (most recently at Arkansas) provided some leverage with recruits. Now McElwain has something to pitch in addition to his quick turnaround at Colorado State and roots with Nick Saban’s coaching tree.

McElwain and Florida reportedly have the ear of five-star OT Martez Ivey, five-star DE Byron Cowart and five-star DE CeCe Jefferson. Landing even two of those players would provide a huge boost for the 2015 class and send a signal to the rest of college football that the Gators will be tour de force during the 2016 recruiting cycle.

Plenty of SEC teams have talent, and Florida isn’t going to enter next season ranked in the Top 10 even if it landed the No. 1 class. But lifting the 2015 group into the middle of the pack in the SEC and perhaps the Top 20 or so nationally would represent a successful launch to the McElwain era at Florida.

Can the new head coach and his staff meet the challenge?

The clock is ticking.