KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 24: Head coach Jim McElwain of the Florida Gators reacts against the Tennessee Volunteers in the first half at Neyland Stadium on September 24, 2016 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Jim McElwain just had to deny one of the most absurd rumors of the offseason

Why is this even a thing?

Well, this is a weird one.

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Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain has been involved in something of an odd rumor over the last few days and it stemmed from the photo below.

Note: possibly NSFW photo

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As you can see, a man that greatly resembles McElwain was inexplicably photographed nude on the back of a shark on a boat. The presence of the photo in question made McElwain's life very interesting for a few hours, as the internet scrambled to accuse him of wild things and vastly assumed that it was, indeed, him in the photo.

Unfortunately for conspiracy wonks everywhere, McElwain poured a lot of cold water on the rumor by flatly denying it.

This, of course, doesn't expressly mean that McElwain is not the man in question but there is also zero evidence that it is actually him. At this point, the damage has largely been done and, even if McElwain denies it in swift terms, there will probably be a segment of the college football world that simply doesn't believe him.

This probably was not the story McElwain, his staff and his players wanted to be involved with in mid-May but, sometimes, weird stuff happens and you are forced to deny insane rumors. Such is life in college football, I suppose.