BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — While Florida is putting the last nail in the coffin of the Will Muschamp era playing in the Birmingham Bowl, the Jim McElwain one is just getting underway.
The new head coach made the trip to the bowl game, and he even got a chance to hang out with some fans and get a taste of SEC tailgating at its finest.
“It was interesting. I always wondered what people did out there,” McElwain said. “Man, they have fun. There’s no doubt about it.”
Although McElwain hasn’t been doing any actual coaching since being introduced as the next Florida head coach on Dec. 6, he has been observing the practices ran by interim head coach D.J. Durkin.
“It’s really one of those deals where it’ll be a huge change for them,” McElwain said. “And yet at the same time the way that they have approached this is something that I have kind of really kind of impressed with.”
Redshirt junior Jeff Driskel, who was benched midway through the season after a turnover-filled showing as a starter, was rumored to be thinking of transferring to Duke last week. McElwain confirmed that Driskel has asked for his release of his scholarship.
“We all have choices,” McElwain said, “and I’m not going to hold him hostage, certainly.”
With McElwain’s hire coming at the beginning of December, that leaves roughly two months to put together a recruiting class for National Signing Day on Feb. 4th. McElwain landed his first recruit three weeks ago with tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe’s (6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Suwanee, Ga., North Gwinnett High) verbal commitment. The 2015 class is currently at eight verbal commitments. McElwain said the focus will be building depth along the offensive line.
“That’s pretty obvious, you guys see the roster,” McElwain said. “Try to have practice next year, so, that’s probably one that we gotta get taken care of.”
The 2015 class has three offensive linemen who are verbally committed to Florida, including Michael Horton (6-foot-4, 320 pounds, Atlanta, Ga., Lakeside High) Tyler Jordan (6-foot-5, 270 pounds, Jacksonville, Fla., Bishop Kenny High) and Brandon Sandifer (6-foot-3, 332 pounds, Warner Robins, Ga., Northside School).
McElwain addressed the hiring of Doug Nussmeier as offensive coordinator, who was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2012 and 2013 following McElwain’s departure for Colorado State. He was the offensive coordinator at Michigan in 2014. The Wolverines struggled and finished 5-7 while not doing much on offense. The hire was perceived underwhelming to some after the year Michigan had with Nussmeier as offensive coordinator, something McElwain dismisses.
“I kind of laugh at them,” McElwain said. “Look at what he has done. He followed up what I did at Alabama and took it to the next level. He was in a tough situation and tried to resurrect it.”
The expectations will always be high for Florida football, but McElwain knows that to turn things around, it’ll take some time as well.
“This is going to be a building process in the infrastructure for a long time to come,” McElwain said. “It doesn’t happen overnight. I’m talking about rebuilding a total organization, so that’s going to take some time.”
Follow Morgan Moriarty on Twitter @Morgan_Moriarty
New head football coach Jim McElwain speaks at his opening press conference in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
