In The (Gator) Zone: Foley Impressed By Year 1 of McElwain Era, Recruiting on Right Path, More Tidbits
Sunday, January 10, 2016 | General, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley gave his official stamp of approval on the first season of Jim McElwain in charge of the football program.
Speaking to reporters Saturday at halftime of Florida's 68-62 win over LSU at the O'Connell Center, Foley is encouraged the Gators are on their way back to the top with McElwain.
"You'd be hard-pressed to say it's not moving in the right direction," Foley said. "Obviously it didn't end the way anyone wants, especially Coach Mac, but to sit here and look at a team that won 10 games and made it to Atlanta, made it to a Jan. 1 bowl game in our first year with probably some holes, I think that's a reflection on coach Mac and his staff."
After losing 13 of 24 games the previous two seasons, the Gators went 10-4 in McElwain's first season and won the SEC East for the first time since 2009. McElwain became the first coach in school history to win 10 games in his inaugural season when most projections prior to the season had the Gators finishing near the bottom of the division.
McElwain has credited a veteran coaching staff in helping him turn around the program quicker than expected. Former Mississippi State defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, former Miami head coach Randy Shannon, well-respected defensive line coach Chris Rumph and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier were among McElwain's most notable hires.
Despite an active offseason that saw numerous coaching changes around college football, McElwain's staff has remained intact.
That's a good sign for a program in transition.
"I think I've said before it's as good a football staff as I've ever been around in terms of not only coaching, but the type of people they are,'' Foley said. "I give all the credit in the world to Coach Mac. He thoughtfully and deliberately found those guys and they're all good Gators. Right now they're still Gators. I'm confident that that'll continue to be."
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RECRUITING BOOST
Florida's turnaround season is paying off on the recruiting trail. In his first full recruiting cycle at Florida, McElwain appeared on "The Paul Finebaum Show" Thursday to discuss the state of the program.
Florida's 41-7 loss to Michigan six days earlier was a thud ending to the season, but McElwain quickly turned his focus to adding players to continue the momentum the Gators built in Year 1.
"I'm excited about where we are, and that momentum has really helped in recruiting,'' McElwain said. "We've got one heck of a class put together."
Florida's 2016 class ranking varies according to which recruiting service you check out -- Scout.com has the class No. 1 overall -- but by all accounts the Gators should end up with one of the top classes in the country when the sun sets on National Signing Day next month.
The Gators overachieved in many ways in McElwain's first season due to some obvious holes on the roster. That never hurts in recruiting.
"I've got to think some of those shortcomings in some of those games, there's probably some recruits that saw an opportunity to maybe come in and play at a pretty darned good place," McElwain said. "Part of that is we've got a staff that had a lot of built-in relationships in a lot of the areas that the Gators have to make splashes in. That's obviously in the state of Florida obviously and south Georgia within the footprint of kind of where we're at.
"That momentum as we move forward, got to tell you, it's a great time to be a Gator."
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GILBERT GETS LAST LAUGH
If you are like me, and you watched the end of the Pittsburgh-Cincinnati playoff game Saturday night, you woke up Sunday morning thankful you are not a Bengals fan.
What a disaster for Cincinnati in its 18-16 loss.
However, former Gators offensive lineman Marcus Gilbert certainly woke up with an extra bounce in his step. First, let's flashback to Dec. 14 when the Steelers defeated Cincinnati 33-20 in a very chippy game that carried over to Saturday's rematch.
Two Bengals who played key roles for the unrest then and again on Saturday -- Vanteze Burfict and Adam "Pacman" Jones -- were once again at the center of the turmoil that unfolded in the final seconds Saturday.
Burfict's violent hit on Steelers receiver Antonio Brown and Jones' unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for bumping a referee led to Pittsburgh's unlikely victory Saturday.
Here is what Gilbert tweeted in December after the teams scuffled in large part due to Burfict and Jones:
All I want for Christmas is the bengals. Would love to see them in the playoffs where they choke. The talking is done between the lines
Marcus Gilbert (@MarcusGilbert88) December 14, 2015
In his fifth season with the Steelers, Gilbert got his Christmas wish and more on Saturday.
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TWO AMIGOS
Former Gators receiver Quinton Dunbar changed positions to land a spot in the NFL. He is now a defensive back for the Redskins, who host the Packers today in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Dunbar's former teammate at UF and Miami's Booker T. Washington High, Lynden Trail, changed schools to earn his NFL shot. Trail transferred to Norfolk State and blossomed into a top defensive end prospect.
He joined Dunbar in Washington earlier this season after starting his career with Houston. The Washington Post shared their unlikely story this week.
Dunbar and Trail have known each other since they were in middle school and now are roommates on what has been long journeys for both from South Florida to the nation's capital.
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TEAM OUTING
Former Gators coach Billy Donovan took a cool road trip back to college on Thursday night when he and his Oklahoma City Thunder attended the UCLA-Arizona game at Pauley Pavilion.
The Thunder was in town to play the Lakers on Friday night.
"The tradition at UCLA, the rivalry between UCLA and Arizona is a great one," Donovan told NewsOK.com. "Thought the level of play was good. I was in Pauley a long, long time ago and the renovations turned out really nice."
Donovan caught up with Arizona coach Sean Miller prior to the game. Donovan and Miller coached together on Team USA two summers ago.
But the star of the night was Thunder All-Star Russell Westbrook, who was being honored by his alma mater. Donovan, general manager Sam Presti and Westbrook's teammates attended the event.
"Speaks volumes of his generosity and time at UCLA," Donovan said. "The whole night was a tribute to his unselfishness and generosity."
