McElwain on fan base's concerns: 'We’ve been behind, but we’re catching up'
The Gators are off to Atlanta this weekend to face Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, but if you've checked the pulse of the Florida fan base since the team's 31-13 loss at FSU this past weekend, there hasn't been much optimism to go around.
After a putrid offensive performance against the Seminoles - and statistical evidence that the Florida offense has regressed, not improved, so far under Jim McElwain since the conclusion of the Will Muschamp era - fans have been pessimistic about the direction in which the Florida football program is headed considering the number of question marks that’ll still surround this offense past this season.
Couple that with what will likely be a mass exodus on the defensive side of the ball after 2016, as well as what has been considered subpar recruiting at a program as prominent as UF’s up to this point, and the fan base has plenty of concerns about the future of the Gators moving forward under McElwain.
But McElwain has a reminder for Florida fans.
"Yeah. I mean, it's obviously one of those things that you have to constantly evaluate and get better at,” said McElwain, when asked about being brought into UF to fix the offense. “I was also brought in here to get to Atlanta. How many years have I been here? OK."
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Although Florida has been dominant against SEC East teams in McElwain’s two seasons, going a combined 11-1 against Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Missouri, the East is widely considered by many as one of the weakest Power 5 divisions in the country. The Gators also haven’t been able to regularly win against very many quality opponents, going just 2-6 against ranked teams in the McElwain era.
However, McElwain continued to bring up reaching Atlanta back-to-back in his first two seasons to his defense Monday during his press conference.
“First of all, this is one of those weeks that not a lot of teams are able to play in," McElwain said. "There are not a lot of teams that are playing this weekend. It’s an honor to be representing the East. I know our guys are excited to get back to what they experienced last year. It should be a lot of fun, a good week of focused practice. We’re looking forward to the game. It’s a great opportunity for everybody on our team.”
With Florida currently a 24-point underdog to Alabama, which is currently ranked tops in the country with a 12-0 regular-season record, the chances of Florida pulling off an upset this weekend against such a dominant group are considered by many unlikely.
Still, McElwain isn’t going to look past Saturday’s game. He’s still confident the Gators could take advantage of a “great opportunity.”
“Looking at it when I took the job, this is a fan base that, at any place that really cares, you’re never going to please them all. I get it,” McElwain said. “One thing I do know is I believe we’re in the SEC Championship again for the second straight year, maybe not the way people want it, but ultimately, the idea is to figure out how to win a ballgame and how to win the East. Now the next step is how to win the whole SEC. And that’s part of building it.
“We’re getting there. We’re getting a lot of really good things going on as far as commitment to the facilities, the things we need to do – not for me. That’s what people don’t get. That’s not for me. That’s for the sustainability of the University of Florida football program and its brand. We’ve been behind, but we’re catching up. I know that’s something that is making a lot of people nervous around the country, and that’s a good thing.”
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