Florida hires Jim McElwain

Jim McElwain has reportedly reached a deal with Florida to become the next head coach of the Gators. The news was first reported by Chris Low of ESPN.com and later confirmed by the university.

All signs over the past several days pointed to Florida hiring McElwain, including but not limited to McElwain’s decision to follow a Florida recruiting analyst on Twitter earlier this week. I know, we live in a sick world.

The biggest obstacle standing in the way of McElwain becoming the Gators coach was the $7.5 million buyout built into his contract with Colorado State. Dan Petty of The Denver Post reports that Florida has agreed to pay Colorado State $5 million cash in addition to scheduling a future game with the Rams, which they will pay them $2 million for.

There was no reason for Colorado State to give Florida a break on the buyout. The Rams hired a good football coach and deserve compensation for letting McElwain out of his contract.

Shortly after news of McElwain’s departure surfaced, his former players took to Twitter to rip him for not informing the team of his decision before it became official.