SEC Football Head Coach Evaluation: Florida Gators’ Jim McElwain

Dec 6, 2014; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain is introduced during a press conference at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Verdict . . .

A reluctant thumbs up.  Whether this hire is viewed as successful or not will depend on the Florida faithful’s patience.

Jim McElwain will not likely be able to achieve the type of success Florida fans expect in his first couple years at Florida. The upperclassmen at Florida have learned almost as many offenses as years of eligibility they had coming out of high school. It will take time for McElwain to establish his offense at Florida.

If Florida fans expect immediate results, you can expect a “fire Jim McElwain” website to pop up sometime around October of year two. If they remain patient, they can reasonably expect greater things in year three.

While at Colorado State, Jim McElwain proved he could build to, achieve, and maintain success as a team and coaching staff.  If his inaugural campaign is 4-8 like it was at Colorado State, however, we may never know how successful his tenure might be.

Stats obtained from sports-reference.com and cfbstats.com

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