Senior receiver Brandon Powell talks to the media following Monday's practice. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Gators Vow to Stay Focused in Season's Final Month
Tuesday, October 31, 2017 | Football, Scott Carter
UF is 3-4 and has lost three consecutive games heading to Missouri.
About 24 hours after Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin met with the team to inform the players of the separation agreement between McElwain and the University Athletic Association, the news continued to sink in Monday that McElwain was no longer their coach.
"I [saw] it on the Internet,'' senior cornerback Duke Dawson said. "At first, I really didn't believe it. Once I got here and we had the meeting, it was true."
Interim head coach Randy Shannon took over the program Monday and held a light workout inside The Swamp. Following practice, McElwain spoke to the team briefly as the players made their way back to the locker room.
Dawson was thankful to get a chance to say goodbye.
"It was great to see because people thought he wasn't going to come back,'' Dawson said.
McElwain replaced Will Muschamp following the 2014 season and went 22-12 in two and a half seasons. The Gators (3-4, 3-3) have lost three consecutive games entering Saturday's contest at Missouri (3-5, 0-5).
Stricklin said the coaching change involved more than wins and losses. Still, for the players, the move came as a sudden shift in direction that most were unaware was even bubbling until McElwain addressed the team prior to Saturday's game and told them to block out the distractions and focus on Georgia.
"It was unexpected,'' senior running back Mark Thompson said. "I don't think anyone on the team saw that coming."
The Gators now must regroup and try to salvage the final month of the regular season starting Saturday at Missouri. The Gators have four games remaining and are still in contention for a bowl game if they can reverse their recent misfortune.
Florida is coming off losses to LSU, Texas A&M and Georgia, but after losing by a combined three points in the home losses to LSU and Texas A&M, the Gators never challenged the Bulldogs on the way to their worst loss in the series in 35 years.
The task now is to avoid a similar meltdown as 2013 when the Gators, beset by mounting injuries and fan unrest over the direction of the program under Muschamp, lost their final seven games on the way to the program's first losing record in 34 years.
"We've got a couple of Muschamp guys still here,'' senior receiver Brandon Powell said. "We've been trying to explain it to all the younger guys about staying focused. You've got to control what you can control. That's all it is at the end of the day."
This time the hurdle is a midseason coaching change.
"It's always an unfortunate situation when something like has to happen,'' senior punter Townsend said. "Now we're just figuring out how we're going to respond to it."
Powell played as a true freshman in 2014 when the Gators finished 7-5 and Muschamp was fired late in the season. The Gators managed to stay together under interim head coach D.J. Durkin as they prepared to face East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl, a game they won.
Powell hopes to see the same approach this time under Shannon, who has a third of the season left to turn around the team.
"I got to go out with some wins,'' Powell said. "Four wins, that would be nice to finish the season undefeated. So, as a senior, I'm going do everything I can to motivate this team to finish out the season strong.
"Just the way practice was today, it was just good to be out there on the field again after something like that. To have Coach Shannon out there coaching us and letting go out and competing and having fun. That's just something we needed right there."
Dawson has the same mentality moving forward.
"Win out,'' he said. "It's my last year, so I want to go out with a bang."
Townsend, another of the team's veteran players, pointed out that Shannon is the fourth head coach he has played for at Florida including Durkin and Shannon.
But what Townsend recalls most is the 2013 that spiraled out of control once adversity arrived.
"We just don't want that to happen again,'' he said. "We can't fall off after something like this happens."
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