When Jim McElwain arrived at the University of Florida in December 2014, he had talent on his roster – including five players drafted in the 2016 NFL Draft and a number of players that will be drafted in the 2017 NFL Draft in a few months.
But, that doesn’t exactly show the true picture of what the Florida Gators football program exactly looked like.
The Gators entered Jim McElwain’s first spring with just six offensive linemen and had major issues at linebacker, tight end, and kicker. It wasn’t pretty and it’s amazing the Florida was able to field a team that season. Because you see, it’s not just about recruiting ranking, where Will Muschamp had three consecutive top-5 recruiting classes, it is about roster management and filling depth.
It wasn’t too long into his tenure at Florida that McElwain said, “ We got a long, long ways to go. Obviously our numbers from a roster-management standpoint are nowhere near where we need to be. Especially thin at linebacker, very, very thin at offensive line to the point that we all knew this was coming, so it’s not a shock, but we’re going to have to adjust how we practice, the amount of reps that we get and the ways in which we do things.”
When Jim McElwain took over the helm, he was handed a roster that was rife with imbalance. During Will Muschamp’s tenure, Florida recruited 18 defensive backs, while only recruiting six total linebackers in four seasons. Moreover, Muschamp recruited just four offensive linemen, two tight-ends, and two defensive tackles in his first two years, while recruiting ten defensive backs. Muschamp had eight instances of recruiting two or less skill positions recruits per position group in his four years, including two years with only one running back, two years of only one tight end, and two years of only two wide receivers.
But what’s more, is it wasn’t just numbers – it was the loss of the talent recruited. Of the two wide receivers from the 2011 class (Javares McRoy and Jujuan Story) – both transferred. A.C. Leonard, the only tight end from 2011, transferred. Running back recruit Hunter Joyer was moved to full-back while Mike Blakely transferred. And of course, both quarterbacks Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett transferred before Jim McElwain took over.
From the 2012 class, both tight-ends transfer pre-McElwain; Matt Jones graduated; Skyler Mornhinweg transferred; Jessaman Dunker transferred. The 2013 had similar issues with Marqui Hawkins, Adam Lane, Max Staver, and Octavius Jackson, transferring.
All in all, the balance of the roster, frankly, sucked.
It didn’t just suck, it hindered practice. Jim McElwain said, “We need to get our roster balanced. Just from a depth standpoint. Got good players – and I’m not saying anything about players – I’m just talking about structurally how you practice to get the most out of it. It will be a little different based on those numbers.”
It didn’t just suck, it forced them have open try-outs to fill out a roster. Jim McElwain noted, “Well, the fact that I actually started to suit up and put a 70s number on should tell you something. We kind of put a role call out there. We had I think a pizza delivery guy, a bartender and one heck of an engineering student that came out and helped us get through spring practice.”
And it didn’t just suck, it forced them to run an offense, especially at the running back position, that McElwain wasn’t comfortable with. He mentioned, “I’ve kind of always been a guy who believes that you need to have multiple guys in the backfield. A running back only has so many hits in him, and to me, it’s important that you have some depth and not one guy carrying it 45 times.”
However, things are changing. Since Jim McElwain took over, Florida has recruited nine wide receivers, six running backs, and three tight-ends – a total of 18 in three years. He has 11 offensive linemen, from just six total scholarship offensive linemen when he took over the program. He has recruited eight linebackers in the last three years, two more than Will Muschamp had in four. And he has still recruited the defensive back position well, bringing in 13 in three years.
When Florida needed offensive linemen in 2015, he brought in six. When he needed defensive backs in 2016 and 2017, he brought in 10. When he needed linebackers in 2016 and 2017, he brought in seven. When Florida was deficient at wide receiver in 2016, McElwain brought in four. All the while, Florida has recruited 11 offensive linemen and 11 defensive linemen – two more at each position than Will Muschamp did.
Florida still has some deficiencies to handle in the 2018 class, but for the first time in a long-time, Florida will have close to 85 scholarship athletes and have recruited balanced classes for three straight years, something Will Muschamp did just twice in four.