Two days of discussions with Jim McElwain have concluded with a verbal agreement to have McElwain coach the Gators, but without a contract being signed.
The main reason for the whole delay is McElwain’s Colorado State buyout. Jeremy Foley attempted to bring down the $7.5 million buyout to about $3 million, but Colorado State wouldn’t budge. Rumors of playing Colorado State in football to help with the buyout were also tossed out there, but the teams’ schedules don’t allow it until 2018 at the very earliest.
The funny thing is that Colorado State president Tony Frank publicly stated that the buyout could be reduced if McElwain left for a “dream job”. Yet despite the fact that a four year old could tell you that Florida fits any definition of a “dream job”, Frank and his fellow CSU higher-ups put their foot down. Not that I necessarily blame them for demanding the full buyout by itself- if they’re going to lose their coach, they may as well get their money’s worth- but putting that out there only to pull an about face on the matter is, objectively speaking, frustrating, highly unprofessional and flat out lying. If Frank wants the full $7.5 million, maybe he shouldn’t have said that in the first place.
But the point is that it’s a mere irritation, not something that will stop Foley from signing McElwain to a contract. Foley will get McElwain signed to a contract soon enough. Colorado State officials have already said that they expect McElwain to leave. Just hang in there. Florida will not be coach-less for long.
