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Jim McElwain says he was in a ‘bad situation’ at Florida
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It didn’t take Jim McElwain long to find another head coaching job. After spending just one full season as an assistant coach on Michigan’s staff, the former Florida leader has landed with a new program.
Earlier this week, Central Michigan announced that McElwain would become the new head coach. It was a splash hire for the Chippewas, as McElwain won two SEC East titles and is a former Mountain West Coach of the Year and SEC Coach of the Year winner.
Following his introductory press conference, McElwain was asked about the situation in Gainesville, and how the head coach was fired midway through his third season, despite leading the Gators to back-to-back SEC title games.
McElwain says it wasn’t an ideal fit.
“It was a bad situation,” McElwain said Monday while meeting with reporters. “Something that, going through, there were a lot of things that went into it. You’ll understand moving forward. We learn from those things.
“It’s something that happened and we’ve moved forward.”
Following his termination at Florida, McElwain joined Jim Harbaugh’s staff in Ann Arbor, coaching the wide receivers. He worked with some of Michigan’s top pass-catchers like Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins and Ronnie Bell.
Central Michigan will be McElwain’s third stop as a head coach. Prior to his abbreviated run at Florida, McElwain was the head coach at Colorado State for three seasons.
In his career, McElwain has a 44-28 record.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB