Tebow Understands Pressure to Win at Florida; McElwain Says Bring It On
Saturday, December 6, 2014 | Football, Volleyball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida's hiring of head coach Jim McElwain was a popular topic on Championship Saturday.
McElwain was introduced as the 25th head coach in Gators football history during an 11 a.m. press conference at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The SEC Network crew of host Joe Tessitore and analysts Tim Tebow, Marcus Spears and Paul Finebaum discussed McElwain in depth on their pregame show prior to Saturday's SEC Championship Game in Atlanta between Alabama and Missouri.
Tebow, whose Gators had their school-record 22-game win streak snapped by Alabama in the 2009 SEC Championship Game when McElwain was the Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator, is more familiar with McElwain than he would probably prefer.
He gave the Gators high marks for landing McElwain to replace Will Muschamp in quotes provided by the SEC Network.
"He is bringing an offense that is very multi-faceted and he has had a lot of success,'' Tebow said. "He is able to adapt and grow with his athletes and play to their strengths. What I really like about him is how he rebuilt that program at Colorado State, and he is going to have to some of that at Florida, especially offensively."
A former defensive lineman at LSU and in the NFL, Spears said McElwain's offensive pedigree should have the Gators excited. He said McElwain's knowledge of the SEC is perhaps his most important attribute.
"I like that fact that he comes to Florida with knowledge of the conference and knowledge of playing big games and winning national championships," Spears said. "Florida needs to get back to being one of the best teams in the SEC because that makes the conference better."
A longtime Alabama media personality prior to launching his ESPN radio show last year, Finebaum remains close to the Alabama program. He said McElwain has some advantages in the timing of his arrival compared to Muschamp.
"He has one great advantage -- he gets to replace Will Muschamp as opposed to Urban Meyer; that was one of Will's biggest obstacles and he never quite got over it,'' Finebaum said. "Everyone in Tuscaloosa loved this guy. That will help him. Will Muschamp could be rough around the edges, not this guy."
Like Muschamp, McElwain has a down-to-earth personality and background working under Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
McElwain has already started evaluating Florida's roster and said Saturday that Muschamp left him some good players.
"Coach Muschamp has been very helpful,'' McElwain said. "He put together a heck of a staff here that's going to go forward as I've talked to them about going and winning a bowl game. That's what it's all about right now. It's about investing in these young men who are here."
While the pressure to win is immediate at Florida, McElwain spoke about embracing that pressure. He plans to apply pressure on opponents more than feel it.
Tebow understands what McElwain is talking about. He relished playing under a microscope at Florida and became an icon in part by the way he handled it.
"It takes time for success, but let's be honest – this is the University of Florida,'' Tebow said. "You are supposed to recruit, play in big games, and play for a championship. There is not a long grace period – there is a lot of pressure. My question is how well can Coach Mac handle that pressure?"
McElwain won't run from it. In fact, he prefers to hang out with it.
"You know what, if there's no pressure, why wake up in the morning, right?" he said. "That's really what drives me anyway."
