A year ago this week started like any other. Florida was coming off of a bye week following losses to LSU and Texas A&M. There was a lot of negativity surrounding the two-time defending SEC East Champions after a 3-3 start with 7-0 Georgia on the schedule that Saturday.
Jim McElwain fielded a question about that negativity and then proceeded to blow up his tenure at Florida and tank the game in one fell swoop when he alleged that he, his players and their families had received death threats.
“There’s a lot of hate in this world, a lot of anger, and yet there’s a freedom to show it,” he said at the time. “The hard part is obviously when the threats against your own players, the death threats to your families, the ill will that’s brought upon out there, and yet, it’s one of those deals that really is a pretty good testament to what’s going on there nationally.”
The death threats proved to be unsubstantiated but were the only thing players and coaches were asked about the rest of the week. Florida couldn’t escape the black cloud that accusation caused and dealing with that along with trying to prepare for Georgia proved too difficult as task.
“Definitely a lot of weirdness leading up to it,” receiver Josh Hammond said. “I think that’s part of why a lot of guys kind of just forgot about it, because of the mental confusion that went before the game and a lot of things that happened after the game. Coach Mac getting fired and that weekend was just a hectic weekend mentally for us.”
It dominated the local and national news cycle throughout the week but the team trudged on getting prepared for No. 3 Georgia.
Then Saturday morning, just hours before kickoff Darren Heitner — a South Florida based attorney — released a series of tweets quoting a source that Florida and McElwain’s agent were already discussing a buyout.
Source: Boosters have been called to pool $ in anticipation that Gators will soon be hiring new head football coach
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) October 28, 2017
Source: Gators AD has statement already drafted no matter the outcome of UGA game..
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) October 28, 2017
Source: Agent Jimmy Sexton & UF have been trying to work out Coach Mac buyout, but are “miles apart.” Still working hard on it.
— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) October 28, 2017
With that news coming out so close to kickoff McElwain felt the need to address it with his team, something he had avoided throughout the week. With the players all in the same room for pre-game meal McElwain addressed the rumors and reports. His intention was to get it out there and instill confidence in his team.
It did the opposite.
“It made it worse, actually,” linebacker Rayshad Jackson said. “It made it worse because he said he’s going to get fired and so we all came to the game like ‘Man, our coach about to get fired and we can’t do nothing about it either because it’s the last game it’s the last game.”
Jackson said McElwain didn’t actually say to the team he was going to get fired but the way he addressed it, his demeanor when speaking to them led the players to feel as if that was the message.
Then Florida, in the blink of an eye, was down 21-0 after 19 plays in the game. It was a perfect storm for a 42-7 loss and the final game McElwain would coach.
This year Mullen was able to make it through his Monday press conference without throwing doubt on the rest of his tenure. The No. 9 Gators will take on the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs. The No. 9 ranking is the highest the Gators have reached since 2015 and it will be the sixth time in the rivalry that both teams are ranked inside the top 10 at kickoff. Mullen has enjoyed success in this series — Mullen was 3-1 against Georgia during his first stint in Gainesville.
This week presents much of the same challenges that any Florida-Georgia week would. It doesn’t, however, feature a head coach sabotaging his team’s chances five days before kickoff.