Sure, he can recruit.
The man also knows how to delegate. He’s been a part of national championship teams as a coordinator, and he’s spearheaded a successful rebound project at Colorado State.
Those all are nice things. But don’t get confused: Florida hired Jim McElwain to fix its beleaguered offense.
To be fair to Will Muschamp, Urban Meyer left him with a dysfunctional offensive roster. To be accurate, Muschamp did very little to solve that disfunction.
After rifling through offensive philosophies and coaches like candy — the Gators employed seven receivers coaches in the last seven years, and quarterback Jeff Driskel worked with three different offensive coordinators by the end of his redshirt junior year — the team turned to a man with a wizard-like offensive resume.
Here are just a few highlights from McElwain’s recent career.
- QB Garrett Grayson threw for 4,006 yards in 2014, good enough for fourth-most in all of FBS.
- WR Rashard Higgins racked up 1,750 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns in 2014 as one of three Biletnikoff Award finalists.
- RB Kapri Bibbs rushed for 31 touchdowns in 2013, just the fourth player to surpass 30 rushing TDs in NCAA history.
- That’s not to mention his days at Alabama coaching players like Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy and AJ McCarron.
But despite Muschamp’s insistence that he left the new guy with loads of talent, the offense is all kinds of leaky entering McElwain’s first SEC season as a head coach.
Florida has lost four offensive linemen in the last 14 months to career-ending medical hardships. D.J. Humphries and Tyler Moore both bypassed their final year of eligibility to enter next week’s NFL draft. Still others have transferred away from Gainesville in the last few years.
The options at quarterback are either inexperienced (redshirt freshman Will Grier — 0 career passes) or inexperienced and ill-suited for McElwain’s typical offensive system (true sophomore Treon Harris — 111 career passes).
Demarcus Robinson, Jake McGee, Kelvin Taylor and Brandon Powell represent a decent quartet of skill players, but the team is thin and inexperienced beyond them as well.
“We should be faster,” McElwain said, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “Our guys [have to] understand that that’s how we do it. Create the chaos, play when you mind seems tired, when your body seems tired and you’ve gotta understand you can overcome if your mind will let you.
“There’s a lot of learning going on offensively.”
If Florida is to win games in 2015, the Gators must rely on the defense. Coordinator Geoff Collins should be getting a lot more help in 2016 and beyond, but for this upcoming season, the load is his to carry.
The recent arrest of cornerback J.C. Jackson in connection with an armed robbery is disturbing off the field, particularly considering his budding off-field history. (Jackson’s lawyer maintains he was not involved in the robbery.)
On the field, whether or not Jackson is available makes a big difference. With him, along with Vernon Hargreaves III and Jalen Tabor, the Gators may claim the top collection of cornerbacks in the SEC this season. Brian Poole is another experienced corner who should make an impact. It’s become more and more important to have a third and fourth very good cornerback, and Jackson’s presence or absence is a deciding factor there.
ESPN.com recently projected 6-foot-6, 245-pound junior Alex McCalister as its breakout defensive player of the year in the SEC East. Linebacker Antonio Morrison missed spring practice due to injury, but he earned All-SEC status in ’14. Players like Jon Bullard and Jarrad Davis give Collins plenty of experience and ability in the front seven.
McElwain eventually will fix the conglomeration of offensive issues. The play of the offensive line may mask other improvements, as the team surely will get better at quarterback whether Harris starts again or Grier inserts himself as a potential multi-year starter.
But the new coach already is smart about managing expectations, calling the Gators a “fixer-up.”
“We’re going to be a little while catching up,” McElwain said, according to ESPN.com. “Realistically, we’re probably a ways from that [roster] balance.”
That’s not to say that Florida can’t return to a bowl game, or even beat anyone on its 2015 schedule. Remember, the Gators prevented Georgia from winning the SEC East last year with a huge upset. But if the team wants to maximize its win total, it’s probably up to the defense to stifle opponents as often as possible.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
