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Running off at the typewriter. …
What if Jim McElwain had somehow, someway beaten Georgia last year?
Would he still be the coach of the Florida Gators instead of Dan Mullen, who has taken over McElwain’s dysfunctional program and miraculously transformed the entire attitude and outlook of Florida football?
Considering the amazing turnaround that has transpired since last year’s Florida-Georgia week when McElwain contrived those death threats and was fired immediately after the 42-7 blowout loss to the Dawgs, I asked UF athletics directors Scott Stricklin on Friday the $7.5 million McElwain buyout question.
Would he have fired Jimmy Mac if the Gators had pulled off a monumental upset and beaten the undefeated, No. 3 Bulldogs last season?
Stricklin replied during an appearance on my Open Mike radio show on the eve of today’s mammoth matchup between the No. 9 Gators and the No. 7 Bulldogs: “I’m not going to speculate, but I will say that outcomes of games are symptoms of what’s happening on a day-to-day basis within your program.
“I said on the day we made the change last year that it was about more than wins and losses. I’m going to stick to that. The outcome of what happened in Jacksonville a year ago on the field was systemic of what was going on everywhere else within the program. The things that go on away from the public view are the things that lead to the results inside the public view.”
Translation: Thank goodness the made-up death threats and demoralizing loss to Georgia happened and opened the door for Mullen’s program-saving arrival and gave Stricklin the opportunity he needed to get rid of McElwain, who, in my mind, should go down as the worst UF coach of the modern era.
Short stuff: Mikey likes: Georgia over Florida by 6 in Point Spread Upset Special, Clemson over Florida State by 7 in Point Spread Upset Special II, USF over Houston by 4 in Upset Special, Eagles over Jags by 8 in make-or-Blake game for Bortles, Bucs over Bengals by 4 in Upset Special II, UCF AD Danny White over Kirk Herbstreit by Appy State’s blowout loss to Georgia Southern. … Speaking of White, UF’s Stricklin lauded his fellow in-state AD (and the brother of Gator basketball coach Mike White) for aggressively going to bat for UCF’s football program. Said Stricklin: “It can be frustrating when your program doesn’t get the respect you feel it deserves. You can’t be in this business and not admire what he’s done.” …
By the time you finish reading this sentence, Deshaun Watson will have thrown three more touchdown pbades against the Dolphins. … Judging by some of the push-back I’ve seen on social media, I’m thinking they should change the nickname of today’s Florida-Georgia game to “The World’s Largest Outdoor UCF Is Not Invited Cocktail Party.” … Isn’t it the height of hypocrisy that college basketball coaches and even college basketball badysts can get paid millions of dollars from sneaker companies, but college basketball players cannot even accept a free meal from these same sneaker companies? Furthermore, why is Kansas player Silvio De Sousa not allowed to play while the school reviews claims made in the Adidas trial, but coach Bill Self and his badistants, who were also accused of breaking NCAA rules during the trial, are still allowed to coach? Shouldn’t coaches be held to higher standards than players? Just sayin’ …
Blake Bortles is starting for the Jaguars on Sunday in London, but ESPN is reporting he is on a “short leash.” Taking the dog badogy further, my buddy Brandon cracked the other day that maybe coach Doug Marrone should fit Blake with a shock collar and zap him every time he commits a turnover. Ouch! … If our government kept secrets like Josh Heupel hid McKenzie Milton’s injury, our great nation would be much better off! … You know that old Don Henley song, “End of the Innocence?” Henley needs to write a sequel for college football fans and badysts who keep spewing misinformation about Danny White purportedly not trying to schedule marquee Power 5 opponents for UCF. Just call it, “End of the Ignorance.” … Prediction in the wake of Ohio State losing to Purdue last week: Urban Meyer will soon announce he is stepping down to spend more time with his ESPN family. …
Last word: Billionaire Tony Ressler, in an interview with The Athletic, on taking over as a neophyte owner of the Atlanta Hawks three years ago and immediately making a deal to sign Dwight Howard to a three-year, $70.5 million contract before trading him a year later: “It’s like the story of a poker game when you’re looking around, and you wonder who the fish is. If you don’t know the answer, it’s probably you. I don’t want to blame somebody else because I was the schmuck. I realized the mistake the minute after I did it.”
Moral of the story: Dwight Howard has schmucked-up every NBA franchise he’s ever played for.
Email me at [email protected]. Hit me up on Twitter @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on FM 96.9 and AM 740.
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