Some things are better left unsaid. At least to the general public.

When Jim McElwain addressed students at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville on Sunday, it didn’t need to be said. Still, the Florida coach went ahead and said it.

“I love the energy, can’t wait to see you,” McElwain said after thanking students for buying all available season tickets. “And you know what, we’re heading to Dallas here in a couple weeks to go beat the heck out of Michigan and then come back to you guys.”

In the 21st century, of course the headline “Jim McElwain: We’re going to beat the heck out of Michigan” was going to be everywhere, regardless of the fact that the pep rally wasn’t broadcast on national television.

That was a month after backup Florida running back Mark Thompson tweeted this out:

Naturally, both stories made the rounds. That’s the age we live in. Trash talk doesn’t have to be at a podium or with a reporter present.

Florida had two instances in which it was accused of giving Michigan bulletin board material. And if you don’t think it was treated as that, then apparently you haven’t seen the tweets like this:

The last thing Florida should be doing is providing anything that can be construed as bulletin board material.

After all, it’s the Gators who will be without their best offensive player because he was suspended along with six others. It’s the Gators who lack a proven starting quarterback. It’s the Gators who suffered a 34-point loss the last time they faced Michigan.

Jim McElwain is 2-7 against ranked opponents at Florida. Now comes No. 11 Michigan.

Florida is the team that’s supposed to act like it has a chip on its shoulder. Michigan was the team ranked No. 11 to start the season after losing more NFL talent than anyone.

All of those narratives get pushed to the back burner when there’s fiery trash talk that hits the airwaves.

It’s one thing for a player to tweet about that. It’s still going to make headlines, but it’s chalked up to college kids on Twitter. Sometimes they say dumb things.

But a coach saying they were “going to go down to Dallas to go beat the heck out of Michigan” is a head-scratcher. The last time Harbaugh got extra time to game-plan for McElwain’s mess of an offense, it was ugly. Say what you want about Treon Harris and his struggles that day, but teams that lose 41-7 are out-coached, too.

The problem now is that if Florida doesn’t beat Michigan — or beat the heck out of Michigan — everyone and their mother is calling out McElwain for the pre-game comment he made. Were his intentions in the right place? Probably, but that’s part of being a Power 5 head coach in 2017. You have to know the impact of everything that comes out of your mouth.

Suddenly, that game becomes that much more important for McElwain to win. For a guy that many aren’t sold on yet as one of the best coaches in college football, a loss to Michigan wouldn’t exactly grow McElwain’s army of supporters.

If Florida does happen to go into Dallas and “beat the heck out of Michigan,” McElwain can play the I-told-you-so card all he wants.

Until then, though, he and his team should quit spoon-feeding a hungry opponent more ammo than it needs.