SEC media days: New coach, old woes at Florida - STLtoday.com
• Jim McElwain, the only first-year head football coach in the Southeastern Conference this season, has no illusions of a quick fix at a program accustomed to hoisting trophies at the end of seasons. The Florida Gators recovered slightly last year and returned to the postseason — albeit with a barely memorable victory over East Carolina in something called the Birmingham Bowl. But systemic problems within one of the nation’s typically elite programs cost coach Will Muschamp his job late in his fourth season. McElwain’s only head-coaching experience came in three seasons at Colorado State, but he knows the SEC too well to expect the Gators to turn the clock back to 2008 — when Urban Meyer won his second national championship in three seasons at Florida. McElwain was Alabama’s offensive coordinator at the time and went on to win a pair of national titles with the Crimson Tide (in 2009 and 2011). “I think part of the experience of being in this conference is realizing it doesn’t happen just... And yet every time we go to work every day, every time we wake up, our responsibility is to try to go out there and win. Three offensive coordinators in four seasons struggled to develop a capable starting quarterback as Florida never resembled the potent offensive machines of Meyer and former coach Steve Spurrier. Source: www.stltoday.com
