Florida fires McElwain after 42-7 loss to Georgia
Jim McElwain is no longer the Florida Gators’ coach, bringing an abrupt end to his tenure fewer than three years since he arrived vowing to return the Gators to national prominence and resurrect a moribund offense. McElwain did neither. Until their current three-game skid, McElwain’s Gators did show some signs of progress, including two SEC East titles. But each positive step was reversed by stern reality checks, including lopsided losses to Alabama.
McElwain leaves the Gators at their lowest point since he arrived in December 2014. Florida (3-4) has suffered few beatings a thorough as Saturday’s 42-7 loss to rival Georgia.
The unbeaten Bulldogs led 21-0 after fewer than eight minutes and never looked back.
Afterward, McElwain sound resigned to his fate.
“Look, we haven’t been good on offense. I get it,” he said. “We’ve won a few games, but we haven’t won enough, haven’t won a championship. That’s real. That’s life. That is this business.
“And I take full responsibility for all of it.”
Defensive coordinator and former Miami head coach Randy Shannon will serve as interim coach as the Gators enter the final month of the regular season.
McElwain and UF officials spent much of Sunday working out the details of his massive buyout clause. The 55-year-old signed extensions after each of the past two seasons and is entitled to $2.5 million for the five remaining seasons on his deal.
Florida, however, might have grounds to fire McElwain “with cause” following last week’s back and forth between him and the administration over claims he and his family received death threats. McElwain declined to provide evidence when his superiors requested it, leading the school to release a statement saying as much.
BIG 12: Iowa State will enter November in first place in the Big 12 and in control of its own destiny. No, seriously. The Cyclones (6-2, 4-1) are tied with TCU (7-1, 4-1), Oklahoma (7-1, 4-1) and Oklahoma State (7-1, 4-1) after beating the Horned Frogs 14-7 on Saturday. But Iowa State has wins over both the Sooners and TCU — and the Cowboys have to visit Ames on Nov. 11.
Not bad for a team that has never won the Big 12 and was picked ninth in the preseason league poll.
“The goal has always been to get to November with something to play for,” Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said.
Even though Iowa State has become one of the nation’s most remarkable stories, the chances the program makes the playoff are extraordinarily slim because of early losses to Iowa and Texas at home.
Iowa State finishes with three of its last four on the road as well, starting Saturday at West Virginia (5-3, 3-2). The Cyclones play at Baylor (0-8, 0-5) and at Kansas State (4-4, 2-3) after hosting Oklahoma State.
That leaves the one-loss Horned Frogs, Sooners and Cowboys desperate to win out and hope for some outside chaos that would open the door for a team from the Big 12 — which missed the playoff a year ago — to nab one of the four coveted postseason spots.
Things should clear up fairly quickly.
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State square off next week in Stillwater in what essentially will be an elimination game for each program’s playoff hopes.
Should the Cowboys survive and then topple Iowa State on the road, they’ll be in a strong position to reach the conference title game. Oklahoma State finishes with Kansas State and Kansas at home.
“It’s been a big game, both in the Big 12 and on the national scene, for the last several years,” Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said. “They’ve got a great football team.”