By Buddy Martin
SouthernPigskin.com

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This has been the off-season of discontent for Jim McElwain and his Gator football hopefuls. Real life doesnt allow replays or do-overs, so the bad memories linger until good ones come along to replace them.

When something doesnt end well, it continues to eat at you as unfinished business years later. During the night you toss and turn while your brain scans your subconscious for solutions. How did it go wrong? What could you have done differently? And now how can you fix it?

Its an all-to-familiar reality for Jim McElwain, who, you might say, experienced his glass both-half full and half-empty at the same time in 2015. Macs Florida team left port on the Queen Elizabeth III and wound up on the Titanic.

This has been the off-season of discontent for McElwain and his Gator football hopefuls. Real life doesnt allow replays or do-overs, so the bad memories linger until good ones come along to replace them.

After soaring to a 10-1 takeoff, the 2015 Gators crashed and burned, largely due to losing their starting quarterback Will Grier. It wasnt just an 0-3 finish 3 they lost those games by a total margin of 97-24. They didnt just get thumped by three worthy, highly regarded and/or ranked opponents in Florida State, Alabama and Michigan. They fell off a cliff.

Although probably not as catastrophic as it felt like to Gator fans 3 after all, in his rookie season McElwain was named SEC Coach of the Year 3 the result created a bit of an identity crisis. Is this who they were? And who will they be this season?

Well, apparently, the media thinks the 2016 Florida team that started out 10-1 last season is going to be the one that shows up on Steve Spurrier-Florida field come Sept. 3, because they have picked the Gators second in the SEC East.

In its pre-season SEC poll, the SEC Media made Tennessee the East favorite, with Alabama the choice to win the West and the overall title. Of course, it should be noted that theyve only been accurate in picking the champion five times out of 24 years.

For the record, I participated in that poll and mirrored the same result.

Now its time to see if All the King’s Horses and All the Kings men can put the Gators together again.

“I’m very disappointed in how we finished,” McElwain said at SEC Media Days. “Not something we’re proud of or something we take very lightly. Learning from that, it will be interesting to see how this team responds. Looking forward to seeing what this team is all about.”

The players and coaches are doing their best to change the mood and avoid the hangover, emphasizing the plusses of a 10-4 season and a berth in the SEC Championship Game. But they own their mistakes that cost their program respect in the final three engagements of 2015.

Naturally, McElwain and his players spun it forward, talking about attitude and commitment and pride 3 all those platitudes that players and coaches always preach in late summer.

cLosing the last few games are a constant reminder for the offseason of what we need to do,d said senior linebacker Jarrad Davis, cof what we need to accomplish and where we need to go as a unit.d

Davis and pre-season All-SEC safety Marcus Maye were among those who chose to forgo the NFL, professing motivation for improving their own lot as well as their teams 3 plus a vote of confidence for their coach. I asked Davis to break it down.

cThirty percent to improve myself,d said Davis. cThirty percent because I love playing for Coach Mac and forty percent unfinished business.d

How will it all work out? There really aren’t answers in July. Only questions.

cA lot of unknowns,d said McElwain. Among them is: Who will start at quarterback?

Just like a bunch of other coaches around the league, McElwain is waiting for fall drills to see if any of his quarterbacks can separate from the competition, as well as how the other players react to which quarterback. And, of course, what the cast is going to be around them.

So far we still dont know if Floridas best offensive player from last season, wide receiver Antonio Callaway, is even on the team. McElwain did confirm that Callaway and suspended quarterback/receiver Treon Harris are both on campus, but declined to give a status update.

As for quarterback, there is some cautious optimism about Luke Del Rio. Hes known McElwain since he was in the eighth grade, first coming to Alabama when Mac worked for Nick Saban. While his dad, Jack, was coaching with the Denver Broncos, Luke continued a dialogue with McElwain, then the head coach at Colorado State. And Luke has a year of clipboard-holding under his belt.

McElwain is careful not to single out Del Rio from senior graduate transfer Austin Appleby 3 of for that matter, any of the quarterbacks cin that room.d

Most likely it will be Del Rio. But when asked, Mac deflects the question with humor, which is charming but never elicits a bonafide response. I asked about his starter.

cYou got any eligibility left?d McElwain fired back at me with a smile.

I felt like saying, cYes, and you should have asked me to walk on last season after starting 5-0, then losing four of your next nine games.d But, of course, I jest.

They were offensively anemic last season with a scoring average of 24.5 points a game, tying Georgia for ninth in the league with 381 total points.

Asked about what it will be like coaching at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field, McElwain retorted, cWell, I dont think they had to replace any bulbs in the scoreboard last season.d