Written by Adam Silverstein at OnlyGators.com
Where you see purgatory, Jim McElwain sees progress.
The Florida Gators may not be world beaters this season, and the team has definitely painted itself into a corner with uneven play, but the usually jovial McElwain believes the Gators are headed down the right path, whether you see it or not.
“I’ve been doing this a long time. I just know that what we’re doing with this football team is the right thing,” he said.
McElwain recognizes that Will Muschamp, whose South Carolina team Florida vanquished 20-7 on Saturday, did him a massive favor by recruiting top-tier defensive talent that led the Gators to an SEC East title in 2015 and may well have them repeat in 2016 if all goes right next Saturday.
He also understands that Florida’s offense, which Muschamp left without any depth along the line and a serious lack of playmakers (and confidence), is slowly but surely coming along even if you don’t recognize that its three-points-per-game improvement from 2015 is one of the top marks in the nation.
“Am I happy with [the offense]? I’ve answered that before: absolutely not. But I also know the parts and what’s there and the direction we’re headed. And I’m excited about it,” McElwain said. “I think we had a little bit of a look into that [Saturday], and that’s a good thing.”
But most of all, McElwain does not have his head in the sand when it comes to some early talk about the job he’s doing and whether the Gators are indeed moving in the right direction — so-called “noise in the system.” He hears it. He understands it. And he doesn’t care.
“You come to the University of Florida, there’s noise in the system no matter what. That’s the beauty of a place like this. You have a bunch of people that care, and a bunch that know football,” he said after improving to 11-1 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. “The noise piece, you can see it didn’t bother our guys. … These guys are working their tail off.”
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