He is from far off Montana, where there are no hurricanes, but it’s obvious Florida coach Jim McElwain has his finger on the pulse of his adopted state in this difficult time.
Somber.
That’s what the head coach was Wednesday. His mood probably could sum up the feelings of an entire state that has been impacted by Hurricane Irma, which carved its path of devastation through Florida on Sunday and Monday.
On the weekly SEC coaches teleconference, McElwain spoke barely above a whisper while talking about the hurricane and how it’s affected many of his players, and how he expects them to respond in Saturday’s big SEC matchup with division rival Tennessee.
A few minutes later, standing at the podium for one of his weekly news conferences on campus, it was more of the same.
At one point, the usually gregarious coach was asked about his somber mood.
“It’s what we do. It’s in our fabric,” he said. “One of the great lessons you learn in athletics, and especially the game of football, is sometimes you get knocked down. The measure of a true man is how he gets back up and that’s what we’re going to do.
“Probably the concern for the people, the families of our players that were my responsibility. It is what it is and yet, you can’t just say it didn’t happen. But what did we learn from it and how do we go about rebuilding?
“That’s what we plan on doing. I think it will be good for our people, our university for us to go out and play, play a game on Saturday. Obviously, one that a lot of people look forward to and I know it’s one our guys look forward to.”
McElwain has clearly been affected by what has happened not only around him and his staff and players, but also by everyone around the state that has been impacted.
He seemed almost uncomfortable talking about football and Saturday’s game out of respect of the difficult time many have gone through and will continue to go through in the coming weeks and months.
Like just about everyone else in the state, McElwain’s players felt the impact of the storm, with many of them having families that were hit hard by the storm.
“Obviously, this last week our concerns, my concerns, have been ultimately with our players’ safety and that they were taken care of. Staying in touch with their families,” he said. “Over 60 guys were affected through their families in one way or another. And you know, what we can do to help them rebuild and move forward? And then to our coaches’ and staff’s families as they went through it, and then ultimately my family.
“We had a good plan and we had good people executing the plan to help our guys, to help our families. And we were very fortunate. So, it’s resilience. It’s time to pick back up and get going and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The decision was made Tuesday to go ahead and play Saturday’s game in The Swamp at the scheduled time, instead of possibly moving the game to another location. That decision came only five days after the Gators learned their Sept. 9 game with Northern Colorado was canceled by the threat of Hurricane Irma.
It’s been a strange and harrowing week that might linger for a long time, McElwain said.
“I don’t think you can ever say that we’re going to get back to normal because of this storm that hit us,” he said. “There is no normal. I know playing this game, our campus officials, our administration, city administrators, people in the government, felt like this can be a go and we’re going to make it happen. I hope that it gives the people of the state of Florida, this area, just a couple hours of something to take their mind off as they recover from what they’ve gone through.”
A football game many seem meaningless compared to what’s happened. Then again, maybe Saturday’s game will prove to be therapeutic.
“Yeah, definitely,” said sophomore wide receiver Josh Hammond, whose family lives in Hallandale. “A lot of things happened in the past couple of days, and I think this game definitely will be able to clear peoples’ minds, just to come out and enjoy a game of football. I think it will be big for a lot of families and Florida fans just to come up and just watch the game and know that they can rest their mind and leave their problems kind of away for a little bit, for a couple hours, and just enjoy a game of football.”
Despite the somber mood at midweek, Hammond said the Gators will be ready to play Saturday.
“You just have to re-shift your focus,” he said. “Definitely devastating to have things like that happen, but it’s out of our control. (McElwain) does a good job letting the players know that it’s out of our control, but we still have a football game to go play. It’s just re-shifting focus and getting mentally prepared to go play a game in The Swamp this Saturday.”
Contact Robbie Andreu at 352-374-5022 or robbie.andreu@gvillesun.com. Also check out Andreu’s blog at Gatorsports.com.
Okay I get it Jmac it’s sad but how about show a little grit and lead this team with excitement and use it as an incentive to get out and beat some azzz. Instead it’s woe is me
Obviously the storm has torn us all up. The only way this game helps is if we win. Better get excited for it because the moonshiners will be.
Actually kind of tired of hearing the politically correct talk after these storms. I’ve seen plenty of them. And statements like “I don’t think we will ever get back to normal” and “there is no normal” are just politically correct and largely ignorant. We will get back to normal, especially in this area. And there is a normal and we will experience it again very soon. I know there are people in harder hit areas who are dealing with more than us but people in those areas have been through this before too. And they will get back to normal also. It’s what Floridians do.
Oh sure, but let someone question the popular emotion, and you’re slammed as stupid, unfeeling, yadda blah etc.
LT you are entirely correct and bravo for saying it. Hurricanes – both kinds – suck, I get it. But online hand wringing helps no one. Let’s have some fun to chase away a little of the woe.
Well, I guess it depends on exactly what you say. You can say the same thing in two different ways and get a totally different response from people. My point is that instead of a defeatist attitude, let’s take a more aggressive approach to moving on. Most of us have been through this before and we have come through it well enough to know that there is a normal and we will get back to it.
Hear, hear, a point well made.
Just re-watched Mac’s pressers and it scares me for this season. It was a downer and felt like a set-up for a loss. I really hope I’m wrong, and that I’m misreading him. Go Gators.
Sometimes it’s nice to have a regular human being as coach rather than some kind of jockbot who feels incapable of expressing a sliver of a doubt or a hint of empathy. Referring to such things as “PC” is, simply, ignorant. Just because you disagree doesn’t mean Mac is being insincere.
I’d say saying things like we will never get back to normal and there is no normal anymore is ignorant. So explain those statements please. And explain to how me saying they are pc is ignorant. Ignorant means lacking knowledge or awareness. I’m not lacking knowledge or awareness that what he said is 99% untrue and that political correctness always plays a role in how a public figure addresses something like this. However, not being from Florida, Id say he is ignorant of how people cope with these type of issues in this area. And, based on your comment, Is say you are ignorant of what ignorant means.
Amen LT, I’m also from/in Fla and have also live some of this. Never get back to normal??? Tell that to the folks in New Orleans, which is still as much fun as ever. I don’t like the obligatory mopes and the mandatory downcast tone. I’ll get flamed for this, but I don’t even like wearing little commemorative helmet stickers, and expressions of playing for something bigger than the usual “selfish” reasons for playing ball. I wish everyone would quit trying to attach football to exterior, unrelated causes like hurricanes and breast cancer, and let it be its own end. I don’t care what coaches or handwringing sportswriters think about disasters, politics, tragedies, or anything other than the sport at hand. This is why you’re here if you want to do good, then be the best you can be in your expertise, and stop preaching.
Someone that says uuuMMM more than 132 times is at a loss for words.
Thank For News.