Florida's Jim McElwain is on the recruiting trail this week and had to let recruits know that the rumors about him being interested in the Oregon job were "hot air" and he absolutely refuted them. A source close to McElwain also told SEC Country he has no interest in taking another job and was upset about being linked to Oregon.
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USA Today's Dan Wolken was one of the first people to report that McElwain might be a replacement for Mark Helfrich who was fired Tuesday night. Wolken cited the tension between McElwain and the fickle fan base —- as well as new athletic director Scott Stricklin —- as reasons McElwain might bolt back for the Pacific Northwest.
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Florida fans are quick to forget though that McElwain paid $2 million of his buyout with Colorado State to leave a region he lived in for 37 years . He also became the first coach in SEC history to make it to the conference title game in both of his first two years.
However, most people have gotten on his case because of the offensive struggles both years and the inability to find a quarterback that's even half as good as Tim Tebow ever was at Florida. McElwain understands the criticism and he's willing to live with it because he believes the program is still rising.
[h/t SEC Country]
