Following last year's SEC Championship game result - a 29-15 Florida loss to Alabama where Austin Hardin had a field goal attempt from 40 yards out blocked - a clearly frustrated Jim McElwain addressed the media and promised to fix Florida's kicking woes.

“We’ll get worked on this kicking thing," McElwain said, "and somebody will get it up over the line far enough that maybe somebody doesn’t block it with their armpit."

The next morning, McElwain was at the house of then-Alabama commit Eddy Pineiro, the top-rated JUCO kicker in the 2016 recruiting class, for an in-home visit in Miami.

"That was probably, I think, that was where I knew I wanted to come to Florida," Pineiro said. "Instead of coming to a quarterback's house or a running back's house, he was at my house at 8 o'clock the next morning after he lost the SEC Championship and I'm like 'This guy really wants me to be here.'

"He was kind of down a little bit, but my grandma made a couple jokes and that made him happy. She gave him some Cuban food," Pineiro continued. "We drove in his car and he talked about last year. He basically told me 'If you want to go to Alabama, go ahead and do what's best for your family. Obviously we want you, but I'm not going to be mad if you don't come here. I want what's best for you.' When he told me that, I was like 'Wow. This is a real father-figure coach.'"

That visit - along with McElwain's comment about Hardin after the SEC title game loss - truly resonated with Pineiro. More than a week later, Pineiro de-committed from Alabama and flipped to Florida.

"It was probably the hardest call of my life," Pineiro said of telling Nick Saban he would be de-committing. "He's a pretty intimidating guy, but he's very understanding. He wasn't mean about it or anything. He was just like 'Do what's best for you and your family.' I did what's best for me and my family."

So far, the decision to attend Florida has worked out quite well for Pineiro. The redshirt sophomore is currently tied for 27th nationally on field goals, converting on 18 of 22 tries (81.8%), while also going a perfect 27-of-27 on PATs. He's gone 3-of-3 from 50-plus yards with a long of 54 on the season, 6-of-8 from 40-49 yards out and 5-of-7 from 30-39 yards out. Although Pineiro has been up-and-down on kickoffs this year, his first season as a Gator has been an overall success.

“Oh, I made the best decision of my life," Pineiro said. "After the spring game, I knew I made the best decision of my life coming here. Just seeing the kicking struggles and helping this team out, putting points on the board. And Coach Mac is like a father figure. That’s the reason why I came here.”

McElwain added: "Eddy's a lot of fun to be around, too. He's got a team that's really behind him and kind of enjoys it. He can keep it pretty loose at times and that's not a bad thing."

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The coach who will be on the opposite sideline this weekend when the Gators face the Crimson Tide has also been impressed with what Pineiro has brought to the table this season.

"Well, the guy had a fantastic leg, very explosive in the way he could kick the ball," Saban said. "He was very accurate. There was a little bit of risk in the fact he hadn't kicked a lot in games. But if you go on just what his potential and ability was, we felt like he was an outstanding prospect. He certainly had a great year for them."

Pineiro has been particularly sharp in November, going 8-of-8 on field-goal attempts. Oddly enough, he's been the main source of Florida's second-half scoring, being responsible for 19 of the Gators offense's 25 points (six field goals and a PAT) in the final two quarters these past four games.

"Yeah. I feel like I'm hitting the ball well," Pineiro said. "It's just a learning process. I think it's just repetition. I feel good. I've been feeling good the past three games, four games."

On Saturday it'll all come full circle for Pineiro, when Florida and Alabama square off in the SEC Championship Game for the ninth time since 1992.

“It’s going to be fun," Pineiro said. "I’m going to see all those guys that recruited me and say hi to them. It’s not bad feelings with what happened.

“I was talking to Johnny (Townsend). He just told me it’s exciting. Who doesn’t want to play the best team in the country? I mean, it’s indoors, there’s no wind, so it’s good kicking conditions. It should be good.”

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