HOOVER, Ala. — For a first-time head coach at Southeastern Conference Football Media Days, Florida’s Jim McElwain didn’t look the part.
While most of the coaches and student-athletes who appeared Monday wore an array of formal footwear, McElwain wore boat shoes — with no socks.
While those same coaches and players looked sharp and prepared from an appearance standpoint, the Montana native wore an awkward orange, faded sunburn on his face, possibly from one of the coach’s first extended forays with a Florida summer.
Yet, he looked as comfortable, confident and jovial as ever.
Apart from his suit, it was as if he were relaxing in his livingroom after spending the weekend at the beach.
"It saves on laundry," McElwain said with a chuckle when he was asked about his lack of socks.
That epitomizes his personality, whether it be on vacation or in front of more than 1,000 media members from across the country.
And that’s the attitude he’s trying to bring to his new program.
"Coach Mac is a laid back person," junior Vernon Hargreaves III said. "He doesn’t ask for much, just do what’s right.
"He can be intense. He has his times. But as far as intense like (Will) Muschamp, nah, he (isn’t) like Muschamp."
McElwain’s temperament is a far cry from his predecessor Muschamp, a coach who became as synonymous with explosive fits of rage on the sidelines as he was for his defensive acumen.
Instead, McElwain brings a culture focused on building confidence within his team.
Rather than regularly meeting mistakes with anger and disappointment, he’s trying to get his players to trust in their abilities.
"He has us believing," Hargreaves said. "He broke us down, the season that we had, and although the record may show we didn’t do that good, we were a few plays away, and that’s what he emphasizes."
Sophomore Brandon Powell said the constant encouragement is helpful for the players, especially when individuals get frustrated.
"Coach Mac, he’ll come in a meeting and just crack a joke," he said. "He’s really one of those types of guys. You can never get down with Coach Mac."
McElwain’s plans for the offense won’t dampen the team’s spirits, either. Although he was unwilling to give any inkling as to who has the edge in Florida’s starting quarterback battle, passing will be emphasized regardless.
"I think background-wise," McElwain said, "just historically, growing up out West and kind of being in the Big Sky Conference, … we threw it around the park quite a bit, and that’s something we believe in."
Powell, a former running back who will play wide receiver this season, is one of the beneficiaries of the new offense.
From a schematic standpoint, Powell said the offense had enough playmakers last season to be better than it ultimately was, but he believes the new coaching staff will be able to put those players in the right positions this year.
"That was the main thing last year," Powell said. "We had the players, we just couldn’t find the plays to run to help us out and put up points to help the defense out."
That will be the key for the first-year coach in 2015.
With an unproven offensive line, few established weapons and uncertainty at quarterback, he and his staff’s ability to maximize their players’ potential will be put to the test.
There are plenty of deficiencies for which coaching will need to make up the difference.
But there’s certainly no deficiency in confidence.
Florida coach Jim McElwain speaks to the media during the NCAA college football Southeastern Conference Media Days, Monday, July 13, 2015, in Hoover, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
