When Oregon fired head coach Mark Helfrich on Tuesday night, a pair of SEC coaches were linked to the job through the rumor mill.

One of those coaches, Florida’s Jim McElwain, quickly responded to those rumors, calling his recruits to assure them that he was committed to the Gators.

According to SEC Country, McElwain dismissed the Oregon rumors as “hot air” during the calls.

McElwain was linked to Oregon partially because he has strong ties to the Pacific Northwest. He was born in Montana and played quarterback at Eastern Washington before joining the school’s coaching staff as a graduate assistant.

He also has stops at Montana State, Fresno State and Colorado State on his resume.

Still, with back-to-back SEC Championship Game appearances in his two years in Gainesville, it might be a little too early for McElwain to give up on the Gators.