Jim McElwain, Florida Gators assistants to make 13 stops on 2015 spring speaking tour

By Adam Silverstein
March 11, 2015

Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain is set to make eight appearances at Florida-based Gator Clubs (plus one in Atlanta) as part of the team’s annual Gator Gathering speaking schedule, with his assistants participating in four more events.

Joining him with speaking engagements are defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, associate head coach and linebackers coach Randy Shannon, offensive line coach Mike Summers and defensive line coach Chris Rumph.

The speaking tour is put on by the UF Alumni Association and Gator Boosters, Inc. in association with the University Athletic Association. Tickets are available to the public and sold to the respective events with proceeds usually going to support the club and fund scholarship opportunities for local area students.

Jim McElwain
» April 7 – Gainesville Quarterback Club (Gainesville, FL)
» April 14 – Titletown Gator Club (Gainesville, FL)
» April 21 – Polk County Gator Club (Lakeland, FL)
» April 22 – Central Florida Gator Club (Orlando, FL)
» April 27 – Tampa/Pinellas County Gator Club (Tampa, FL)
» April 28 – Gator Club of Jacksonville (Jacksonville, FL)
» April 29 – Atlanta Gator Club (Atlanta, GA)
» May 4 – Marion County Gator Club (Ocala, FL)
» May 28 – Fightin’ Gator Touchdown Club (Gainesville, FL)

Assistant coaches
» April 27 – Geoff Collins – Volusia County Gator Club (Daytona Beach, FL)
» April 28 – Mike Summers – Emrald Coast Gator Club (Fort Walton Beach, FL)
» May 5 – Randy Shannon – Gator Club of Miami (Miami, FL)
» May 6 – Chris Rumph – Sarasota/Manatee County Gator Club (Sarasota, FL)

Head basketball coach Billy Donovan will also participate in two yet-to-be-scheduled Gator Gatherings in August at the Clay County Gator Club (Orange Park, FL) and Lake County Gator Club (Leesburg, FL).

5 Comments

Dave Massey says:

March 11, 2015 at 6:03 pm

Hi Adam,
It doesn’t say it in the main article but when you open the email it says, “Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp…”. Faux pas

Are there any expected position changes to shore up mostly QB and LB but also O line?

Thanks

Reply
- Adam Silverstein says:
  
  March 11, 2015 at 6:08 pm
  
  Originally published w/ that name as I copied a format from 2014. No.
  
  Reply
Ted says:

March 11, 2015 at 6:59 pm

Thought at least one of those would have been in South Florida.

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Ted says:

March 11, 2015 at 7:11 pm

Saw that Randy Shannon will be there. It would be super if the big boy was there. There is enough talent there to field at least a half of a team.

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ntcrze says:

March 12, 2015 at 11:12 pm

I think it will be interesting to see the approach McElwain takes when describing the team to the fans who attend these things. I think one mistake that Muschamp made, that helped hasten his exit from UF, was his tendency to pump up the team and players too highly. When you tell someone that Jeff Driskel is going to be a great quarterback or the Gators are going to be a very good team, it raises the expectations to a point where the fans think something is rotten in Denmark, when the simple truth is that Jeff Driskel sucked and the Gators were not a very good team. I think the Vince Dooley approach is much safer, even if you know that you have a good team or player, why say it? Those of you who have been around long enough know how, every year, Dooley would poor mouth his team and that Georgia didn’t have a chance against the mighty Gators. But, by the same token, Spurrier was never humble about his team, at least when he was at UF, he’s changed a little from that as he’s got older. So I guess that approach works too, but if you are going to talk big, you better be able to back it up, and Muschamp didn’t do that. I’m just interested in how McElwain approaches this. It’d seem to be the wise thing to downplay how good Florida is, especially since the reason he’s now the coach is because UF wasn’t very good. That’s what I would do, but we’ll have to see how McElwain handles the inevitable question of how good the Gators are. He’s got a six year contract, if he’s smart, he’ll not promise anything before the sixth year. At least Muschamp kept one promise, he did say that losing to Georgia was going to end.

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