My buddy who is a UF fan had this to say about Mac.
1) He said he enjoys seeing a team that is disciplined and isn't just running around making dumb mistakes and unsportsmanlike penalties.
2) He likes what Mac has done but he is still skeptical in the recruiting of Mac at UF and wants to see what he can do there before he calls him an elite coach. He is concerned with the defensive fallout next year and he year after.
I don't understand this because this is like Rick Barnes at Texas in Basketball. Texas and UF will always get big players in both sports.
3) He fears that this could be a fluke season. Didn't say much about this but this was his feeling.
I think your golfing buddy is spot on. Obviously, this season has been a very pleasant surprise. But we really don't know yet what his status will be in recruiting. Guys like Saban and Miles are also great coaches, and have surrounded themselves with a lot of assistant coaching talent. Add to that their ability to go 2 and 3 deep at each position with top tier talent, and you have long term success as elite.
It will help McElwain on the recruiting trail that the team has been such a surprise in his first year. Gives recruits a sense of confidence that he can get them looks at the next level.
Teams win championships. Of the coaches we're comparing, the offensive minded one won two championships while the defensive minded won zero. The fact is that Meyer left a better situation to Muschamp than Muschamp left to McElwain.
Actually, in my opinion, both Spurrier and Meyer, when they left, had given up on recruiting for at least a year prior, and handed that off to others. And it showed.
Zook recruited great, but was not a good HC. But when he left, Meyer inherited a ton of talent.
Muschamp recruited great, but was not a good HC. When he left, he also left overall a pretty good roster. Weakness on the offensive line, in particular, but defensively pretty loaded.
McElwain can go sell the offensive recruits on the motion of, look what I can do with meh talent, come here and I'll make you a star. And on defense he can point to a decade-long run as top three year in and year out, and we need guys like you because others are going to the NFL early. Hint hint.
Handled correctly, McElwain could haul in epic classes in the next couple of years.