Getting Florida to this point is reason why you are hearing McElwain’s name mentioned as the SEC (and maybe national) Coach of the Year, but the first-year coach doesn’t want to hang his hat on “we’re just happy to be hear”. In the SEC title game a year earlier, Florida held Alabama without a point in the fourth quarter during a 31-20 come-back.
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It happens more often than not in the football coaching profession. “So any success that he’s had (as a head coach) is not at all a surprise to me”. He’s outgoing. He’s got a good personality.
Nick Saban reflected on his career arch and aspirations on Wednesday.
Henry’s 271-yard rushing game against in-state rival Auburn this past Saturday was just the exclamation point on a phenomenal season. That he was personable and hard-working.
One day until the SEC Championship Game, Alabama fans. As I’ve said before, he has come a long way. Look, as much as I know coach Saban, I don’t think he’ll leave Alabama and go pro.
McElwain said when Saban first called him, he thought it was a friend playing a prank.
If you watched the 2014 game, an Amari Cooper-powered 42-21 Alabama win, you might have noticed something Gary Danielson did this week: while the final score might suggest otherwise, Florida’s defense did a pretty good job on a down-to-down basis against the run. “I think part of it is they’ve asked him to do some things he’s not necessarily comfortable with”.
Alabama- Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide won the SEC West on Saturday. “I owe a ton to coach Saban and what he gave me an opportunity to do”.
Treon Harris will need to steady the Gators offense against Alabama.
Done and done at Alabama.
But Greg McElroy knew exactly what McElwain meant.
McElwain shook up the Tide offense without departing from the tried-and-true principles of strong tailbacks running behind stronger lines. If Alabama loses, that mini-drought will stretch to three seasons. The 1996 matchup went to the Gators once again, 45-30, but Alabama bounced back for a 34-7 victory in the 1999 installment. The offense turned the ball over only 57 times.
The last time the two spoke, at least before becoming contemporaries, Saban provided McElwain with the roadmap to becoming a winning head coach.
“This is an outstanding team that we’re playing”, Saban said.
But the Tide offense could have its own problems going against that Collins-led Florida defense.
Appalachian State at South Alabama: The Jaguars want to join the postseason party but they’ll have to beat the Mountaineers to do it. They will try for the third week in a row to get their sixth win this season to clinch eligibility to participate in a bowl.
“It speaks volumes of his character and his professionalism”, Saban said of McElwain staying on to help the team win the national title. “But I think really one of the keys to that game was four or five big plays that changed the momentum of the game, which changed the outcome of the game”.
But McElwain has a much grander vision for the Gators. Stopping him, however, does not leave Alabama in the same position as, say, LSU was when a defense bottled up Leonard Fournette.
“It’s a lot of things”, he said. And when Alabama had it’s turnover-filled loss to Ole Miss earlier this year, nobody discounted them from being in Atlanta or the College Football Playoff. Everybody has to… have one common goal and no independent contractors.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling popcorn or calling plays, everybody’s got to be on the same plays trying to improve in the same direction”, McElwain said. The guy is really good now.
“A lot of people looked at Mac and kind of scratched their head when he used the dead fish reference”, McElroy said on a teleconference Wednesday. He’s probably handled and done as good a job with his skill set as far as helping some of those things moving forward.
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The Gators are the only thing that stand in the way of the Crimson Tide making the College Football Playoff for the second straight season.
