Florida Gators got tired of losing

After accepting the job at Florida, McElwain and the fan base knew that the thought process of rebuilding the reputation and confidence of the team would be one the priorities to finding success. The Florida Gators football program is one the highly thought of jobs in the nation. In the ever-changing world of college football, winning at the University of Florida football team are a staple that go hand in hand. Jim McElwain has done a masterful job sealing a winning mentality into a group of players that simply got tired of underachieving.

Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville was one more step towards the Georgia Dome and that can be finalized this Saturday against Vanderbilt. Though Florida has a Vulcan death grip on the SEC East, there is still a possibility that it could somehow slip out their hands. After the 27-3 win over rival Georgia, Coach McElwain is already challenging this team’s focus for the next game.

“Derek (Mason) is doing an outstanding job, and we can’t fall off. We will find out what our team is made of.” McElwain said in his post-game press conference.

A college football season is an emotional roller coaster for every team. McElwain and this staff have used a laser focus to help this young team to get to this point without any devastating letdowns. The Gators enter the last third of their season in a position to play for rings, and November is the month where championship mettle is discovered.

When Spurrier arrived at Florida he made hopes reality and got a train of expectations rolling down the tracks that is still going today. Florida can and has recruited the best of the best athletes across America. It is a national brand that has been built into one of the most recognizable in all of athletics, and it started with winning championships on a regular basis. When recruits come here they expect to win and win consistently.

“4-8 and 7-6, It’s not the expectation” said junior cornerback Vernon Hargreaves, who recorded his fourth interception in the game.

These players understand what the standard is in Gainesville, and below-average and mediocrity is not it. Not only does McElwain deserve credit for the turn around, but these players also deserve credit for adjusting to a new staff so quickly. Often times in coaching changes you see a lot of growth pains from coaching styles and philosophy, but thus far that has been kept to a minimum.

Senior Jonathan Bullard has been around for a lot of the ups down the past four years and knows this transition has been special, “I just applaud Coach (Jim McElwain) and the way he came in and the way he got things changed. Everybody just stepping in together and getting the young guys right in the league and it paid off.”

Florida has played 71 games since losing to Alabama in the 2009 SEC championship. It has been a long five years for the Florida faithful and that can all come to end on this homecoming weekend. There are those out there still leery of the Gators, because they don’t have the superstar quarterback or the top-flight running back, but this team continues to prove they are winners. That has been missed over the previous five seasons.

Even though many of these players have experienced the hard times within the program, something had to change to produce the results we are seeing on the field.

“The way we attack practice, the way we attack our workouts, everybody knows what it’s like to lose almost your whole schedule. Nobody wants to feel that way anymore.” Hargreaves said.

And that feeling is not just losing but knowing you’re not meeting the standard of what is expected from such a prideful program. It’s that type of disappointment that comes when you let down your parents or mentor. The next time you get an opportunity you want to make them proud, and we should all be.

It is easy to look ahead to Atlanta and look past Vanderbilt and the struggling Gamecocks, but this staff continues to teach one day at time.

“He (Jim McElwain) tells us to relax, just play the game, take one thing at a time each play. That’s been his coaching style ever since he came in. We all adjusted to it and it’s been great so far.” Said senior safety Marcus Maye.

We should not take anything for granted around these parts, we have experienced enough to learn not to look to far ahead. In the middle of success you can often lose perspective and appreciation for what you learned from failures and the effort it takes to climb back to the top. The 2015 Gators are on a special run and though many never saw this coming one person never doubted the reality. When asked if he thought this team could reach Atlanta, Coach McElwain gave a simple answer we can call believe in.

“Yes, yes I did.”

Kevin Camps
Kevin, a lifelong Gator fan has followed and studied Florida football since 1990. He is a Gainesville native that has experienced many great triumphs of Florida football. Born and raised as a Gator, Kevin loves to talk and promote the Gator Nation. When not talking Gators, Kevin is spending time with his wife and five kids, serving in his church or grilling great bbq.