ATLANTA — On Dec. 5, 2014, Jim McElwain stepped off of a UAA private plane at the Gainesville Regional Airport.
One day earlier, he had been named Florida’s next head football coach and was ready to turn around a program that had been in disarray for the past five years.
Twelve months later, McElwain led the Gators to the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, their first appearance since 2009.
While then-No. 18 Florida fell 29-15 to No. 2 Alabama in the conference title game, McElwain’s presence has been viewed as a rebirth for a program that has a long history of athletic success.
It hasn’t been a smooth ride, but the 53-year-old ball coach from Missoula, Montana, has brought the Gators back to national relevance.
But McElwain knows the work has just begun.
"I just can’t tell you how happy I am that the administration chose to go our direction and to trust us to help this program get back to where it belongs," McElwain said. "I’ll tell you what: we’re going to get there. And we’re getting there in a hurry."
The Pieces
Antonio Callaway was wrapping up his senior season at Miami’s Booker T. Washington High when McElwain took over in Gainesville.
The speedy wide receiver was on the fast track to success, catching seven touchdowns and averaging 26.4 yards per catch as Booker T. took home the Class 4A state title in his last year. He had his share of colleges interested in him. Alabama, FSU, Georgia and his hometown University of Miami were among the 18 schools who offered Callaway.
But he dreamed of going to Florida.
He grew up watching Percy Harvin and Jeff Demps light up The Swamp every Saturday and wanted to be the next big-name player to come out of Florida’s offense.
The feelings were mutual with McElwain.
"He said ‘we’re still coming after you,’" said Callaway, a three-star prospect and the No. 47 wide receiver in the 2015 recruiting class according to 24/7 Sports. "‘We still want you.’"
Callaway took his official visit Jan. 30. He committed and signed his letter of intent on National Signing Day five days later, one of a handful of freshmen already making an impact for the Gators this season.
In addition to Callaway, McElwain swayed offensive lineman Martez Ivey and defensive lineman CeCe Jefferson — both blue chip prospects and the No. 2- and 7-ranked players in the class, respectively — as well as four-star running back duo Jordan Scarlett and Jordan Cronkrite to come to UF, creating a quintet of playmakers who highlighted a last-second recruiting effort.
In just two months time, McElwain lifted the Gators’ recruiting class from as low as 96th to 21st in the country. Fifteen of UF’s 22 recruits committed in the final two weeks, including seven on signing day.
In addition, redshirt senior Mason Halter — a 6-foot-6 All-American offensive lineman at FCS school Fordham — transferred to Florida in the summer, adding depth to Florida’s offensive line that saw four starters leave for the NFL Draft.
"For a first signing class, for our first signing class, first and foremost, the momentum that we gained has been fantastic," McElwain said on signing day.
And balanced with the senior class — a group with proven players in defensive lineman Jon Bullard, linebacker Antonio Morrison, cornerback Brian Poole and tight end Jake McGee — McElwain had a group to work with for his first season.
The imperfections were still there, but McElwain knew the group was in it for the long run.
"We’re leaving a program that’s definitely going in the right direction to the younger guys," Poole said. "We really know what it is to kind of clamp down on what we’re doing and just pretty much keep getting better."
The Mindset
Already in the midst of a solid freshman season, Callaway walks into McElwain’s office. Players stop by all the time.
Sometimes, it’s to talk about the upcoming game. More often, though, they simply want a heart-to-heart with their head coach.
McElwain invites Callaway in with open arms, just like he does all of his players — from the All-American to the backup on the scout teams. They’re his kids before his football players, and a father only wants the best for his children.
After they talk, McElwain makes sure Callaway doesn’t leave hungry.
He pulls out a loaf of bread and jars of peanut butter and jelly. With a plastic knife — or a spoon when the plasticware supply is short — McElwain meticulously spreads the peanut butter all the way to the edge of the crust, just like his mom taught him.
Then, Callaway breaks the news to his coach: He doesn’t eat crust.
"At least he leaves me some scraps so I can have a little something," McElwain said.
This is one of the numerous ways McElwain connects with each player on a personal level.
McElwain has preached the importance of family to his team this year. Individual success is great, he says, but how you make your teammates better speaks volumes.
That’s why Kelvin Taylor received an emotional lashing after making a throat-slashing gesture against East Carolina.
That’s why Demarcus Robinson, a player McElwain said has come farther than anyone else, was demoted for two games and suspended for a third.
And that’s why starting quarterback Will Grier was not only forgiven but embraced after he was suspended for one year for violating the NCAA’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
The Set-up
Jim McElwain thought the phone call from Nick Saban was a joke.
It was late January 2008, and McElwain had just finished a 9-4 year as offensive coordinator at Fresno State, a season in which the Bulldogs finished 38th in the country in total offense. He had 21 years of coaching experience to that point. None of it, however, was near the caliber of what Saban was about to offer him: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at national powerhouse University of Alabama.
"When he first called, I actually might have hung up thinking it was one of my buddies busting my chops, not knowing they had a job open," McElwain said. "I was just really excited he called back."
On Feb. 1, he accepted the offer.
He was now learning under the same coach who helped develop successful head coaches in Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher, Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio and the Dallas Cowboys’ Jason Garrett.
But Saban didn't want McElwain to replicate what the others had done.
He simply wanted McElwain to be himself.
He told the Montana family man that he’d be successful if he followed two instructions: Work hard, and be complete in what you do.
"It was the same thing my dad told me," McElwain said. "That was pretty easy to work under."
On the outside, Saban and McElwain are polar opposites.
Saban, the teacher, is stern, matter-of-fact and to the point.
McElwain, the student, lets his whimsy show each time he speaks to the media, cracking jokes and telling stories about his old cars (a 1972 sweet-pea green Pinto) and one-hit wonders (one of his personal favorites is The Cyrkle’s "Red Rubber Ball").
But on the inside, they’re practically one in the same. The attention to detail, the interaction with the players, the structure. The execution is almost identical.
"Every guy’s a little different, so the way you handle those individuals is gonna need to be different as well," said Greg McElroy, a former Alabama quarterback under Saban and McElwain and now an analyst with the SEC Network. "I feel that’s part of being a leader, and both guys do a really nice job of getting the most out of their players."
The external juxtaposition and internal harmony between McElwain and Saban created a smooth working environment. In McElwain’s four years as offensive coordinator, Alabama went a combined 48-6 and won national titles in 2009 and 2011. Outside of his first season, McElwain never fielded an offense that ranked worse than 43rd nationally in total offense or 21st in scoring offense while Saban crafted four years of top-five defenses.
"He’s a great teacher. He’s innovative in terms of some of the things he does and some of the problems he creates," Saban said of McElwain. "I think he coaches with discipline and works hard to get his players to execute things the right way."
On Dec. 13, 2011, McElwain prepared to take his innovative mindset back west when he was named the next head coach at Colorado State. It was his first opportunity to build his own program, his first chance to accomplish what Saban has in Tuscaloosa.
Before McElwain left for the Centennial State, Saban gave him one final piece of advice:
"Mac, whatever you do, make sure you do it with your personality and put your thumbprint on it."
In three years at Colorado State, a period dubbed "A Bold New Era," McElwain took the Rams from a perennial sub-.500 team to Mountain West Conference champions in his final year.
UF athletics director Jeremy Foley took notice. On Dec. 2, 2014 — three days after the conclusion of the 2014 regular season and the four-year Will Muschamp era in Gainesville — Foley travelled to Fort Collins, Colorado.
Three days later, McElwain landed in Gainesville.
The Wake-up call
In the early going of his head coaching tenure, McElwain has still been unable to crack Saban.
In 2013, Saban and the Crimson Tide rolled to a 31-6 win against a McElwain-led Colorado State team on the rise.
Saturday’s SEC Championship Game served as deja vu.
Saban seemed a step ahead of Florida for all 60 minutes, as if he read McElwain’s calls before he even knew what he wanted to do.
Florida quarterback Treon Harris takes the snap and seconds later, three defensive linemen are already in his face. The running game never got off the ground, with Florida’s 15 yards being its worst total since losing 19 yards on the ground against Georgia on Oct. 29, 2011 — a span of 55 games.
The defense never got off the field, playing 84 snaps as Alabama dominated the time of possession 43:29-16:31. Heisman Trophy frontrunner Derrick Henry wore the Gators down with each of his 44 rushing attempts. Gains of 4- and 5-yards early on became as long as 14, 19 and 21 in the final 20 minutes of play.
The loss capped a five-game stretch to end the regular season where Florida went 3-2 and looked like anything but the potential College Football Playoff team they could have been.
The defense has remained stout, but the offense has become anemic.
Following the win against Georgia, UF’s offense has averaged just 271.2 yards, dropping them to 109th in total offense this season, worse than every offense under Muschamp except for the 2013 season.
"There’s a lot of disappointed guys in that locker room, and it was good to see," McElwain said following the game. "Because as you go through life, you got ups. You got downs. … They never backed down."
The Expectations
Florida players didn’t know how far they could go at the start of the season.
The mantra is always championship or bust and the sky is the limit. But outside of the 2012 season that ended in a Sugar Bowl berth, the Gators had folded by midseason in each of their four seasons under Muschamp.
"Sometimes you need people to doubt you because the worst thing you can do to somebody is doubt them," defensive lineman Joey Ivie said before the season. "That just makes you more hungry."
Then the wins began piling up.
A 31-24 win against East Carolina, a game McElwain still vehemently says Florida should have lost.
A 28-27 come-from-behind victory against Tennessee, where the Gators won on a last-minute 63-yard catch-and-run from Callaway and brought Florida back into the AP Top-25 for the first time in more than two years.
A 38-10 blowout over then-No. 3 Ole Miss, highlighted by four first-half passing touchdowns by Grier and four forced turnovers by the defense.
"I guess the more we started winning, the more the confidence grew and ‘oh wow we can really do this,’" cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III said. "It was that type of vibe in the locker room."
Before they knew it, the Florida team projected by media to finish fifth in the SEC East swept its six division games.
McElwain became the first Florida football coach to reach the 10-win plateau in his inaugural season.
Fans believed the hype, too, making The Swamp become a feared place to play again.
Average attendance at the seven home games this season was 90,065, the first time the season-long attendance average at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium surpassed 90,000 since 2010.
"The guys are buying in and I think that’s why we are where we are," Hargreaves said. "This is not the end for coach Mac and the Gators."
The Future
McElwain doesn’t plan to be a one-year wonder.
That’s not how he works.
And he doesn’t plan to go out on a low note either.
McElwain still has one last chance to finish his culture-changing first season with a win on Jan. 1 against Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
The matchup pits McElwain against Wolverines’ first-year coach Jim Harbaugh, who led Michigan to a 9-3 season after going a combined 12-13 over the last two seasons.
But McElwain’s not worrying about that. He has his own team — his family — to focus on.
UF coach Jim McElwain smiles in the huddle during practice on Dec. 4, 2015, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Jim McElwain waves as he walks off the plane after arriving in Gainesville on Dec. 5, 2014.
