It’s been a weird season for Florida football, as the Gators are 3-4 on the season and 3-3 in SEC play. Things have been so acrimonious that during a press conference earlier this week, Florida coach Jim McElwain claimed that he had received death threats towards his family, a serious allegation that requires the utmost care and attention.
But according to Edward Aschoff and Mark Schlabach of ESPN, Florida has been unable to find anything that could substantiate these extremely serious claims. For this reason, the university is reportedly trying to decide whether or not it can fire McElwain with cause.
McElwain has a buyout of $12.9 million, and if the school wants to fire him, it would need to pay him that sum. However, the school reportedly believes it can part ways with its coach due to the death threats and get out from paying him that money.
Sources told ESPN that they believe the university has enough cause to fire McElwain without having to pay his buyout. Sources also said that if McElwain were to be relieved of his duties, defensive coordinator Randy Shannon would be asked to be the team’s interim coach.
The news dropped during Florida’s 42-7 loss to Georgia on Saturday afternoon. Earlier in the day, word came down that the university and McElwain’s representatives were working on negotiating a buyout, which the school denied. In three years at the helm in Gainesville, McElwain is 22-12 with a a 16-8 mark in the conference. Florida has won the SEC East each of the last two years.
(Via ESPN)
