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Jim McElwain finishes first season at Central Michigan with impressive turnaround
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The Central Michigan Chippewas are going bowling.
That phrase normally would not register any interest among SEC fans, if not for the fact that former Alabama offensive coordinator and Florida head coach Jim McElwain is the one leading the charge in his first season in Mount Pleasant.
Not only are the Chippewas going bowling, but they’ve just won their third straight game, a 49-7 blowout of Toledo to get to 8-4. Next Saturday, Central Michigan will play Miami (OH) for a MAC Championship, only one season removed from a disastrous 1-11 season that resulted in John Bonamego’s firing.
After an impressive run as the offensive coordinator under Nick Saban from 2008-2011, McElwain spent three seasons leading Colorado State before being hired as Florida’s head coach after the 2014 season. McElwain led the Gators to 10-4 and 9-4 in his first two years, winning the SEC East both times. The appearances in Atlanta were not enough to keep him in Gainesville, however, as he was fired midway through the 2017 season. It was not the most amicable breakup, as McElwain later admitted he was not a good fit at Florida to begin with.
After spending the 2018 season under Jim Harbaugh as the wide receivers coach at Michigan, McElwain was hired at Central Michigan. The Chippewas are experiencing quite a revival this season, and McElwain is doing it with a former adversary at quarterback, as former Tennessee signal-caller Quinten Dormady went 15 of 19 for 250 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Toledo.
Contrary to the situation at Florida, it appears as though Jim McElwain is a good fit early on at Central Michigan. His team is competing for a conference title in year one, and there are no sharks in Michigan, which will make it much easier to shake off rumors he has dealt with in the past.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Lucas is a digital reporter for 104.5 The Zone in Nashville, and a high school play-by-play broadcaster. Lucas has been covering SEC football for Saturday Down South since 2018.
