In 1987, 1988 and 1989 UF went 6-6, 7-5, and 7-5 respectively. UF hired the right guy and started the greatest period in UF history in 1990.
In 1996, 1997 and 1998 OU went 3-8, 4-8 and 5-6 respectively. OU hired the right guy and was 7-5 in 1999 and 13-0 and won the national title in 2000.
In 2012, 2013 and 2014 Michigan went 8-5, 7-6 and 5-7 respectively. Michigan seemingly hired the right guy and went 10-3 in 2015 and is 7-0 so far this year.
Rebuilding does not necessarily need to be a multiple year tear down the program and rebuild it. When you get a good coach who is a good fit with your program, ie the right coach, a powerful program like UF that ALWAYS has talent on its roster can start winning again immediately. And you generally will know if you have the right guy pretty quickly. I am still in the camp that the jury is out on McElwain, but it will not take 5 or 6 years to figure out if he is the right guy for this program.