Fans of Florida State’s biggest rival have had to endure a lot over the last four years as the Seminoles have won four straight over rival Florida with three of them coming by way of blowout. Two weeks ago, FSU handled Florida 31-13 in Tallahassee, holding the Gators without an offensive touchdown for a second straight year.
Last week, FSU fans got a little more joy as the Gators were pummeled by top-ranked Alabama for the SEC Championship. For a number of reasons, the butt of jokes from FSU fans have largely been directed toward Florida head football coach Jim McElwain.
When McElwain was said to be a candidate for the Oregon head coaching job last week, many FSU fans joked that they hoped the Florida head coach would stick around because it was in FSU’s best interest. Though his team has been handled by Florida State in his first two seasons in Gainesville, a fair assessment actually seems to suggest that McElwain has done a pretty good job so far.
Though Florida is in the midst of a late-season swoon for the second year in a row, McElwain has elevated the program from the position he found it in. Last season, McElwain led the Gators to a 10-win season and he’s managed to win a maligned SEC East in each of his first two seasons.
While it’s too early to anoint McElwain as the second coming of Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer, he’s 18-8 in his first two seasons at Florida. In fact, with a win over Iowa in the Outback Bowl, McElwain’s 2-year record would be identical to FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher’s record through two years.
When McElwain took over, Florida was 29-22 in its previous four seasons. Compare that to the 30-22 4-year record for the Seminoles when Fisher became head coach at FSU. If you’re looking for another parallel, both were once offensive coordinators under current Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
Florida fans may become disgruntled that the program is in the midst of a second straight late-season swoon or that the Gators are 0-2 against FSU. Winning rivalry games was one of Fisher’s saving graces early in his tenure at FSU, but the Seminoles are in a much better position as a program now than Florida was during Fisher’s first two years.
Known as an offensive mind, one of the gripes against McElwain is that his offenses have been largely paltry while the program has been carried by a defense mostly inherited from predecessor Will Muschamp. While there is some truth to that, FSU’s offense in 2011 ranked 77th nationally and Fisher was offensive coordinator at the school for three seasons before becoming the head man.
In Fisher’s third season of 2012, FSU finished 12-2, won the ACC for the first time in seven years and defeated Northern Illinois for its first BCS bowl victory in 13 years. Even then, Fisher wasn’t fully embraced by the fan base. In 2013, Fisher’s fourth year, FSU scored more points than any FBS team en route to a 14-0 campaign and a national championship. Support since then has been very high.
This isn’t to say that Florida fans should expect similar results over the next two years, but the fact of the matter is that building a program takes time and incremental steps are necessary. Though the gap between FSU and Florida is still pretty wide in favor of the Seminoles, Florida as a program is trending upward. For that, McElwain deserves credit.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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