- Jun 8, 2016
- 12,739
- 15,076
The sharkhumper was all up in his feelings.
www.on3.com
Former Florida coach Jim McElwain spent two and a half years in Gainesville, far less time than Hubert. McElwain’s teams found success immediately, going to back-to-back SEC Championship games in his first two seasons. McElwain took advantage of a weak SEC East, and his teams weren’t particularly elite themselves.
In 2015, McElwain’s first season, the Gators had a thrilling 28-27 win over Tennessee, a game that was made closer due to the fact that Florida missed 26 tackles. You couldn’t hide it. McElwain bemoaned the missed tackles in his post-game press conference and again during his Monday media availability.
The topic was brought up again that Thursday during Gator Hotline, which was live from Piesanos Stone Fired Pizza at the time. Early on in the show, Hubert said a fan made a comment about Florida’s missed tackles that didn’t sit well with McElwain.
“He gets mad about it. Now I gotta deal with him. He’s upset for the next 45 minutes,” Hubert recalled. “We would tape the radio pregame show right after that (for Saturday). So, we finish and now I’m getting ready to do the pregame interview for the Ole Miss game.”
McElwain’s attitude didn’t change from the live radio show to the taping for the pregame show.
“I’m throwing softball questions,” Hubert said. “I’m not going in there like Mike Wallace was on 60 Minutes. But I said, ‘Hey, there’s a great matchup on the outside tonight. So, you got Laquon Treadwell against Vernon Hargreaves. That should be a good matchup.’
“He looked at me and he goes, ‘We don’t care anything about that. We don’t care about that. Whoever is over on that side, we’ll guard him.’ So, I’m thinking, ‘You could have given me a little better answer than that.’ These are two guys that are probably going to play at the NFL.”
Hubert was right. Both Hargreaves and Treadwell went on to play in the league and their 2015 matchup was talked and written about all week. Hubert carried on with the interview, moving to a topic that was on the minds of Gator Nation and something McElwain himself had already addressed.
It didn’t go well.
Hubert brought up Florida’s missed tackles, an area of concern that McElwain previously acknowledged and vowed to clean up.
“I said, ‘Coach, you mentioned last week we had a number of missed tackles. I’m sure you’re working diligently this week in practice about shoring up the tackling,” Hubert said. “And he looked at me and he gives one of these (a tongue-in-cheek gesture) and he goes, ‘Yeah, you’re just like the rest of ’em.’ Now that set me off.”
Hubert brought up Florida’s missed tackles, an area of concern that McElwain previously acknowledged and vowed to clean up.
“I said, ‘Coach, you mentioned last week we had a number of missed tackles. I’m sure you’re working diligently this week in practice about shoring up the tackling,” Hubert said. “And he looked at me and he gives one of these (a tongue-in-cheek gesture) and he goes, ‘Yeah, you’re just like the rest of ’em.’ Now that set me off.”
Nonetheless, Hubert remained calm and professional on air. He waited until the recording was over before responding to McElwain.
“I finish the interview and it’s like steam coming out of my ears. ‘You’re just like the rest of them’, meaning all the media,” Hubert recalled. “And so, we got done and I hit the stop button on the recorder. I stood up and he stood up. It was like, Earl Weaver with an umpire. We were this close. And I said, ‘What are you talking about? My job is to make you look good.’
“That’s all I’ve ever done. That’s all I’ve ever done for 25-plus years as the voice of the Gators. I said, ‘You treat me like I’m a 19-year-old intern.’ And then we got into it. One of his assistants, I saw the door open and she snuck out. She got out of there. So, me and him were going at it. But that led to me no longer doing that show.”
After that exchange, Hubert went to former UF executive associate AD for external affairs Mike Hill (now the AD at Charlotte) and told him they had to find someone else to do the radio show with McElwain. Florida baseball broadcaster and former pitcher Jeff Cardozo took over as the host until this year, with the new Voice of the Gators Sean Kelly interviewing first-year coach Billy Napier every Monday.
“That’s the only time I ever got into it with any of the coaches,” Hubert said of the McElwain incident. “I had a great relationship with all of them, including the basketball coaches, the baseball coaches. That’s the thing, if you ask me what I miss the most, is just being around those kinds of people.”
Mick Hubert reveals spat with Jim McElwain that ended radio show
For decades, Mick Hubert hosted the Gator Hotline every week until an argument with a former head coach changed the show forever.
Former Florida coach Jim McElwain spent two and a half years in Gainesville, far less time than Hubert. McElwain’s teams found success immediately, going to back-to-back SEC Championship games in his first two seasons. McElwain took advantage of a weak SEC East, and his teams weren’t particularly elite themselves.
In 2015, McElwain’s first season, the Gators had a thrilling 28-27 win over Tennessee, a game that was made closer due to the fact that Florida missed 26 tackles. You couldn’t hide it. McElwain bemoaned the missed tackles in his post-game press conference and again during his Monday media availability.
The topic was brought up again that Thursday during Gator Hotline, which was live from Piesanos Stone Fired Pizza at the time. Early on in the show, Hubert said a fan made a comment about Florida’s missed tackles that didn’t sit well with McElwain.
“He gets mad about it. Now I gotta deal with him. He’s upset for the next 45 minutes,” Hubert recalled. “We would tape the radio pregame show right after that (for Saturday). So, we finish and now I’m getting ready to do the pregame interview for the Ole Miss game.”
McElwain’s attitude didn’t change from the live radio show to the taping for the pregame show.
“I’m throwing softball questions,” Hubert said. “I’m not going in there like Mike Wallace was on 60 Minutes. But I said, ‘Hey, there’s a great matchup on the outside tonight. So, you got Laquon Treadwell against Vernon Hargreaves. That should be a good matchup.’
“He looked at me and he goes, ‘We don’t care anything about that. We don’t care about that. Whoever is over on that side, we’ll guard him.’ So, I’m thinking, ‘You could have given me a little better answer than that.’ These are two guys that are probably going to play at the NFL.”
Hubert was right. Both Hargreaves and Treadwell went on to play in the league and their 2015 matchup was talked and written about all week. Hubert carried on with the interview, moving to a topic that was on the minds of Gator Nation and something McElwain himself had already addressed.
It didn’t go well.
Hubert brought up Florida’s missed tackles, an area of concern that McElwain previously acknowledged and vowed to clean up.
“I said, ‘Coach, you mentioned last week we had a number of missed tackles. I’m sure you’re working diligently this week in practice about shoring up the tackling,” Hubert said. “And he looked at me and he gives one of these (a tongue-in-cheek gesture) and he goes, ‘Yeah, you’re just like the rest of ’em.’ Now that set me off.”
Hubert brought up Florida’s missed tackles, an area of concern that McElwain previously acknowledged and vowed to clean up.
“I said, ‘Coach, you mentioned last week we had a number of missed tackles. I’m sure you’re working diligently this week in practice about shoring up the tackling,” Hubert said. “And he looked at me and he gives one of these (a tongue-in-cheek gesture) and he goes, ‘Yeah, you’re just like the rest of ’em.’ Now that set me off.”
Nonetheless, Hubert remained calm and professional on air. He waited until the recording was over before responding to McElwain.
“I finish the interview and it’s like steam coming out of my ears. ‘You’re just like the rest of them’, meaning all the media,” Hubert recalled. “And so, we got done and I hit the stop button on the recorder. I stood up and he stood up. It was like, Earl Weaver with an umpire. We were this close. And I said, ‘What are you talking about? My job is to make you look good.’
“That’s all I’ve ever done. That’s all I’ve ever done for 25-plus years as the voice of the Gators. I said, ‘You treat me like I’m a 19-year-old intern.’ And then we got into it. One of his assistants, I saw the door open and she snuck out. She got out of there. So, me and him were going at it. But that led to me no longer doing that show.”
After that exchange, Hubert went to former UF executive associate AD for external affairs Mike Hill (now the AD at Charlotte) and told him they had to find someone else to do the radio show with McElwain. Florida baseball broadcaster and former pitcher Jeff Cardozo took over as the host until this year, with the new Voice of the Gators Sean Kelly interviewing first-year coach Billy Napier every Monday.
“That’s the only time I ever got into it with any of the coaches,” Hubert said of the McElwain incident. “I had a great relationship with all of them, including the basketball coaches, the baseball coaches. That’s the thing, if you ask me what I miss the most, is just being around those kinds of people.”
