Florida Football: Five worst head coaches in Gators history

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Oct 7, 2017; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain looks on against the LSU Tigers during the first half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Florida Football Worst Coaches: Jim McElwain

Head coach from 2015 to 2017
22-12 Record

You know, of Florida football coaches that have been the head coach for at least three years, Jim McElwain actually has the 8th best winning percentage in program history.

That’s pretty neat.

And he won the SEC East in 2015 and 2016.

That’s also pretty neat.

The problem is that he took advantage of a Georgia program in transition and barely survived Tennessee and survived Florida Atlantic even less.

In 2015, Florida ascended to 8th in the country and had an outside shot at a playoff berth if the Gators could knock off FSU and Alabama in back-to-back weeks.

Florida instead fell 27-2 to FSU and 29-15 to Alabama.

In 2016, Florida did lose to Tennessee, was crushed by Arkansas, was crushed by FSU, and was train wrecked by Alabama.

The problem for Gator fans is that while his defenses were solid, the offense was so anemic that the Gators were not an enjoyable team to watch, even when it won.

Florida lost to Georgia 42-7 in 2017, and McElwain was invited to leave the program.

His two true recruiting classes were decent but not elite. The class of 2016 ranked 12th in the country, and 2017 was 11th.

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