McElwain Assembling Saban-esque Coaching Staff at UF

[GatorTAG]

Expanding support staff was early key for Jim McElwain

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Since taking over at Florida, new head coach Jim McElwain has preached about building the infrastructure for success he needs to have to win big with the Gators.
That has hinged largely around assembling a bigger secondary support staff to ensure that everything from recruiting to coaching is as streamlined and efficient as possible.
"We're getting there," McElwain said. "We're still a ways away in a couple spots, and yet we've been really fortunate I think to attract some outstanding talent and guys that are going to be able to move this program forward in their roles."
The Gators have doubled the size of their football administrative staff from nine in 2014 to 18 currently, bringing in a number of high profile names to work under McElwain in an off-the-field capacity.
Florida has been able to attract a couple former position coaches and coordinators, including Oregon State offensive coordinator John Garrett, Cincinnati tight ends and special teams coordinator Marc Nudelberg, Norfolk State defensive coordinator Mark DeBastiani, Southwest Minnesota offensive coordinator Jeremy Darveau and Jacksonville defensive coordinator James Rowe.
"Some of the value as far as looking forward to some film breakdown, things like that, is huge," McElwain said. "Getting another set of quality eyes on your product that can kind of look back and sit back and see it from afar can really bring some value to what we're trying to accomplish.
"Part of it is the people you get to work with. The new set of ways of doing things and just kind of refreshing yourself as a coach. Thse are transient positions by nature, which is great. We're able to give a coach an opportunity to advance his career, and on the other end, we're able to bring in new ideas to stay fresh.
"Then if a coach does move on to a head coaching job, it does allow opportunities for other guys. Internally and externally. It really is the way of moving forward. Our administration has been fantastic with allowing us the opportunity to get near or in the ballpark with the way things are moving in that direction."
The addition of so many well-qualified coaches will help provide Florida's players with top-notch instruction across the board and allow Florida's nine on-the-field coaches to spend as much time as possible doing on-the-field coaching and recruiting.
And Florida will continue to round out its secondary staff as it moves forward.
"We're not filled up yet," McElwain said. "We're pretty close. And yet some of the graduate assistant roles, we need to get them in school. There's some things that need to happen.
"But we're getting to the model that we're going to have. We're at the University of Florida, we're going to fit that model to what's best for us."
You can view the entire football administrative staff and their previous jobs below.
Football Administrative Staff

Staff Member, Position
Previous Job
Drew Hughes, Director of Player Personnel
Florida Director of Player Personnel
Kevin Barbay, Associate Director of Player Personnel
Colorado State Director of Player Personnel
George Wynn, Assistant Athletics Director, Football Operations
Florida Assistant Athletics Director, Football Operations
Deidra Church, Director of Football Administration
Colorado State Director of Football Administration
John Garrett, Quality Control Assistant
Oregon State Offensive Coordinator
Jeremy Darveau, Quality Control Assistant
Southwest Minnesota Offensive Coordinator, Offensive Line Coach
Andy Belluomini, Quality Control Assistant
Florida Offensive Assistant
Mark DeBastiani, Quality Control Specialist
Norfolk State Defensive Coordinator
Marquel Blackwell, Quality Control Specialist
South Florida Director of Player Development
Marc Nudelberg, Quality Control Specialist
Cincinnati Tight Ends, Special Teams Coordinator
Nancy Scarborough, Executive Assistant
Florida Executive Assistant to Head Coach
Casey Callahan, Program Assistant
Florida Program Assistant
Saphira Lazarre, Program Assistant I
Florida Program Assistant
Shawnee Sellers, Program Assistant I
2014 University of Florida Graduate
James Rowe, Graduate Assistant
Jacksonville Defensive Coordinator, Cornerbacks Coach
Christian Pace, Graduate Assistant
Michigan Student Assistant
Duke Lemmens, Graduate Assistant
Florida Defensive Graduate Assistant
Justin Hinds, Graduate Assistant
Mississippi State Defensive Graduate Assistant

 

[WobbleGator]

Now to get Saban-esque success.

 

[t-gator]

This is good to see. Looks like our administration is fully committed to getting our football program back to where it belongs

 

[TheDouglas78]

This is good to see. Looks like our administration is fully committed to getting our football program back to where it belongs

There is no hate in this statement.... are you feeling ok?

 

[MidwestChomp]

Mac probably sat Foley down and told him about Saban's staff and that's how you recruit and win. Great to see this happening at UF. But, where's Chris Leak? I thought he was staying on in some capacity.

 

[T REX]

Nice to see. Hope it translates to wins

 

[jaywalker72]

Seems like great competency, but like TREX said, before I go popping champagne, I'll wait to see how it makes a difference on the field. But it sounds fantastic.

 

[GatorTAG]

Mac probably sat Foley down and told him about Saban's staff and that's how you recruit and win. Great to see this happening at UF. But, where's Chris Leak? I thought he was staying on in some capacity.

Coach McElwain is racist. He fired Chris Leak and hired Duke Lemmons.

Stephen A. Smith

 

[CaribGator]

Quite a jump up in additional staff. If it allows the on field staff to focus more on their job and that translates in to improved performance from the players, then that should help us win. I'm all for it. I'm glad Foley agreed to this expense rather than giving Mac a raise after the first year. Then an extension the year after that, hmm, might still happen if we kick azz and win the SEC next year.

 

[Marianna-FL_Gator]

Quite a jump up in additional staff. If it allows the on field staff to focus more on their job and that translates in to improved performance from the players, then that should help us win. I'm all for it. I'm glad Foley agreed to this expense rather than giving Mac a raise after the first year. Then an extension the year after that, hmm, might still happen if we kick azz and win the SEC next year.

That's exactly why mac is putting this in place. It will allow him and the rest of his coaching staff to focus more on Coaching/Developing players instead of having to do it all. I love it and we should see a vast improvement on the field because of what he's putting in place.

 

[t-gator]

Mac probably sat Foley down and told him about Saban's staff and that's how you recruit and win. Great to see this happening at UF. But, where's Chris Leak? I thought he was staying on in some capacity.

Doug Johnson said on the radio that one of Mac's demands was that he got as much support as saban has. I'm curious about leak too. I'm sure he could at least get a job on someone's support staff if he wanted. Maybe he wants to get into something else?

 

[NavetG8r]

Very interesting, and encouraging.

 

[TLB]

Quite a jump up in additional staff. If it allows the on field staff to focus more on their job and that translates in to improved performance from the players, then that should help us win. I'm all for it. I'm glad Foley agreed to this expense rather than giving Mac a raise after the first year. Then an extension the year after that, hmm, might still happen if we kick azz and win the SEC next year.

And the Foley haters who chime in about the tight wallet will say we drove away WM by not paying for additional staff, and that WM's staff was stretched too thin to get the job done because Foley wouldn't support them......and yet, here we are. Seems all JMac had to do was ask? Or at least have a plan, I suppose.

 

[NavetG8r]

Seems all JMac had to do was ask? Or at least have a plan, I suppose.

Something tells me the key is in your last sentence.

 

[GatorBart]

Coach McElwain is racist. He fired Chris Leak and hired Duke Lemmons.

Stephen A. Smith

Saw that about Lemmen's. That's cool.

 

[t-gator]

Saw that about Lemmen's. That's cool.

He can definitely teach the kids how not to play d-line

 

[T REX]

And the Foley haters who chime in about the tight wallet will say we drove away WM by not paying for additional staff, and that WM's staff was stretched too thin to get the job done because Foley wouldn't support them......and yet, here we are. Seems all JMac had to do was ask? Or at least have a plan, I suppose.

The question is why did this all take so long...physical upgrades to facilities and to the staff? Why was he so behind in adjusting? Five years wasted.

 

[MJMGator]

The question is why did this all take so long...physical upgrades to facilities and to the staff? Why was he so behind in adjusting? Five years wasted.

Better than a lifetime.

 

[GatorTAG]

I'm still waiting on a position to be created whose sole purpose is to suppress the noise in the system.



But seriously, these additions should help relieve a lot of the pressure that has driven a couple of our better coaches out. McElwain won't be spread too thin with all of this support staff.

I'm also amazed at the level of coaching experience he's putting in these positions. Our players might actually learn how to run routes and zone block and neat stuff like that.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

When I last googled this, it said Trailerbammer had 24 quality contol assistants with varying titles. We're in the right track but we still have lots of ground to cover. Having that many assistant assistant coaches to watch film is just one of the many reasons Bammer could have beaten by 80 if they wanted to last year.

Also note that since 2012 or so these quality control assistants can make some recruiting contacts. Having 4 last year, while economical and perhaps good for Fooley's budget, put us at quite the disadvantage.