For better or worse, Jim McElwain and Jim Harbaugh will be scrutinized to no end the next couple seasons.

The two biggest programs to hire head coaches this offseason — Florida and Michigan — will be compared for years to come.

Who made the better hire? Which coach will return a once-glorious program to the top?

That starts Feb. 4 with National Signing Day, as each coach launched a mad dash to revive a flagging recruiting class the day he got hired.

The Wolverines, sabotaged by an awful season and a clear down trend under Brady Hoke, retained just six recruits at the time of Harbaugh’s hiring, including a legacy player and a kicker. The Gators, undermined by a flagging team on the field and uncertainty at head coach, claimed just eight commitments at the time of McElwain’s hiring.

Both Florida and Michigan began ranked in the 70s or 80s, not even at the top of the pack for, say, the Sun Belt Conference. But both schools should be among the strongest closers of the 2015 recruiting class.

Michigan made a huge splash last week, stealing away four-star QB Zach Gentry from Texas. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound quarterback probably won’t start ahead of Shane Morris in 2015, but he gives Harbaugh someone to groom for the future with a strong arm and the ability to make plays with his legs, a staple of Harbaugh’s recent offenses.

But the coup was more of a symbol than a single move that will change the fate of the program. An initial cannon fire across the bow that has to have coaches, especially in the Big Ten, nervous. Harbaugh is coming for you and your best players. Good luck protecting them as he pries them away.

Current estimates by Michigan recruiting experts project the Wolverines to finish somewhere around 25 to 35 in the rankings with 15 or so commitments. Most everyone expects Harbaugh to pull off one more surprise, and USC has to be nervous as the favorite to land five-star cornerback Iman Marshall.

McElwain has a trifecta of five-star in-state talents giving strong consideration to the Gators, and landing just two of the three probably would give him an early edge over Harbaugh with the initial recruiting class.

Defensive ends Byron Cowart and CeCe Jefferson as well as offensive tackle Martez Ivey represent a huge opportunity for McElwain, who needs to replace departing DL Dante Fowler Jr. and OT D.J. Humphries. All three are talented enough to contribute immediately, not to mention make a strong national statement on signing day. Scoring a trifecta should land the Gators well within the Top 25, and probably much higher.

Harbaugh is much more proven as a head coach. He’s the sexier hire. He executed one of the best college coaching jobs in the last decade during his run at Stanford and made San Francisco perhaps the pre-eminent team in the NFL for several years, taking the 49ers to the Super Bowl.

McElwain is the one with the college national championships, but as a coordinator at Alabama. His turnaround job at Colorado State was impressive, but Florida didn’t make near the splash that Michigan did, as the Wolverines hired a man some consider to be the best football coach alive right now.

Securing a better recruiting class and grabbing national headlines, if that’s indeed what happens for McElwain and the Gators, is a nice start. But Michigan should have a good class as well, considering the circumstances. And if the Wolverines finish the season in the Top 25 and the Gators don’t, it will generate plenty of discussion.

The Gators’ biggest recruiting adversary is Auburn, not Michigan. Former head coach Will Muschamp could convince any number of the three five-star guys to follow him to the Tigers instead. But McElwain vs. Harbaugh matters, even if the two coaches aren’t battling for the same recruits and won’t play each other.

Florida wants to the the one creating the buzz with McElwain, but he’s playing catchup to Harbaugh in terms of perception and reputation. That’s why the next few days are so critical in Gainesville, Fla.