Coaching Changes - McElwain Out at Florida

October 29, 2017 by CFP Staff

Georgia routed Florida 42-7 in Jacksonville on Saturday (October 28) and by later that night reports quickly circulated that the Gators were looking into the possibility of a "with cause" firing, or a reduced buyout of Jim McElwain's contract. By Sunday afternoon, McElwain was out and defensive coordinator Randy Shannon was named interim head coach.

Administrators said they were irked by McElwain's unsubstantiated comments that family members and players had received death threats. Another catalyst could have been the increase in empty seats at Florida Field as the result of an offense that had been stagnant since the suspension of QB Will Grier for PEDs in October of 2015 (Grier later transferred to West Virginia), or the numerous misdeeds by members of his team, or the perception the team was going backwards instead of improving.

Wins shouldn't have been the biggest issue.

An ESPN article written by Edward Aschoff and Mark Schlabach pointed out that McElwain had a 22-12 record and was the first coach to take his team to the SEC championship game in each of his first two seasons. Shannon becomes the seventh person to lead the Gators as head coach or interim coach since Steve Spurrier stepped down after the 2001 season.

Complete list of Coaching Changes.