On Monday morning, Florida head coach Jim McElwain got his first opportunity to address the Kelvin Taylor sideline incident.
And while no formal apology came from the first-year Florida coach about the incident that occurred during the Gators’ 31-24 win over East Carolina on Saturday night, McElwain did say it was something he and his team can learn from as the season progresses.
"I’m a pretty passionate guy, pretty emotional guy. I want what’s best for this university, this administration and program moving forward," McElwain said.
"There were some real teachable moments in that game as far as things that we just can’t do to hurt ourselves or hurt the team. They’ve been addressed."
UF athletics director Jeremy Foley was also in attendance, sitting idly by with his arms crossed intently watching as McElwain fielded question after question about his rant.
Not once did he ever hear McElwain say the word "sorry."
But while McElwain never did say he regretted the incident, he did say repeatedly he didn’t feel good about what happened and how it ended up in the public eye.
"I don’t feel good about it. As you know, this is a very public job. This is a public thing that we do," McElwain said.
"I understand that I have a long ways to go and I make mistakes. Absolutely."
The incident also caught the attention of McElwain’s mother, Marjorie.
McElwain said he got a call from his mother afterwards and she gave him her thoughts on what happened.
"Ninety-four years old and I got an earful from her too. Rightfully so," McElwain said.
On the other side, Taylor’s father, former NFL running back Fred Taylor, said on The Dan Lebatard Show on Monday he thought McElwain overreacted.
But when it comes to understanding the message behind McElwain's tirade, Taylor said he understood the methodology behind it.
Taylor said the throat-slash gesture was something he used to do during his playing days.
He also added that the gesture was a selfish act on Kelvin’s part and his son has to be a smarter player and will learn from it.
UF offensive lineman Trip Thurman said he sided with McElwain and he didn’t have a problem with the way the Gators’ coach handled Kelvin’s gesture.
"In my opinion, I think he did the right thing," Thurman said.
"On any team, the head coach is a father figure. He wants the best out of his players. Kelvin knows what he did wrong. We learned from it and we’re going to move along. Coach loves us all."
McElwain said he and Kelvin did have a conversation about what happened and they hugged each other while acknowleding it’s time to put the entire situation behind the two of them.
"Do I feel bad about it? Yes," McElwain said.
"At the same time, I’ve got to understand my mistakes as well and learn from it and go forward."
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
UF coach Jim McElwain stands on the sidelines during Florida's 31-24 win against East Carolina on Sept. 12, 2015, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
