Jim McElwain might be a long way from his Montana roots, but he knows exactly what the stakes are when it comes to coaching football in the state of Florida.
Just this past January, on the heels of back-to-back SEC Eastern Division championships, Florida's head coach stood amid a mass of humanity and cameras on the sideline at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium prior to the College Football Playoff national championship game. He was there to provide ESPN Film Room analysis for the Alabama-Clemson clash, but sure enough, the subject quickly turned to the 2017 version of his Gators.