Florida coach Jim McElwain responds to Oregon coaching rumors

He doesn't sound like a coach planning to go anywhere

Jim McElwain doesn't sound like a man bound for Oregon.

Even before Oregon officially fired Mark Helfrich on Tuesday, McElwain's name was mentioned as a possible replacement in Eugene. McElwain grew up in Montana and stayed in the Pacific Northwest. He played his college ball and began his coaching career at Eastern Washington, so he's familiar with the area and it made some sense.

When asked about it on Wednesday, however, McElwain quickly shot down the idea.

"It's always interesting, this time of year, how whatever comes out," McElwain said. "No, I haven't heard from Oregon. The things that get thrown out there, at times, I don't know how it does sometimes. I guess slow news day. I got my hunch there might be some recruiting things behind it. I don't know."

When asked directly if planned to stay at Florida, McElwain responded "yeah."

McElwain is in his second season at Florida, where he just won his second SEC East title. He's 18-7 overall at Florida, and 13-3 in SEC play, and his Gators will take on Alabama this weekend in the SEC championship.