Jim McElwain is not leaving Florida for Oregon. He hasn’t even heard from the university.

As the coaching carousel begins to take its course, that’s what McElwain again repeated during his Wednesday press conference. McElwain dismissed the Oregon rumors as “hot air” during phone calls to recruits on Tuesday night and this evening, beating a dead horse (something we get quite often this time of the year), he continued the denials.

Here’s the full transcription of his most recent Oregon comments:

“You know it’s always interesting this time of year and how whatever comes out. No, I haven’t heard from Oregon and, you know, the things that get thrown out there at times, I don’t know how it gets linked sometimes. And I guess slow news day,” said McElwain, who is 18-7 with the Gators. “I’ve got my hunch there might some recruiting things behind it. I don’t know, but we got that taken care of. A lot of time on the phone last night obviously. And yet, at this time of the year, I can remember even those years I was at Alabama, it was every year Nick was going to go to the NFL or whatever it was, right? You know, it’s part of what you deal with. And as you guys know, I probably don’t take that stuff too serious.

“Look, I’ve got a heck of a job. In case anybody checked this is the University of Florida. We’re playing in what they call the SEC Championship game. It really hasn’t crossed my mind.”

McElwain has been linked to Oregon partially due to his ties to the Pacific Northwest, having played quarterback at Eastern Washington with other stops at Montana State, Fresno State and Colorado State.

Florida will compete in the SEC Championship Game against Alabama for a second straight season this Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on CBS.