Jim McElwain entered the Southeast End Zone meeting room on Tuesday with his usual composed demeanor.
He quipped with media members as he walked toward the lectern, bearing a notable smile on his face that has been present every time he talked to the press since being hired as Florida’s head football coach back in December.
But with Spring football practice starting on Monday, the smiles could easily turn into frustration in the blink of an eye.
When the Gators open their first of 15 practices on Monday, McElwain’s roster will be far from what he probably wants.
The numbers are against him.
He has just seven active scholarship offensive linemen.
He has only three healthy linebackers with collegiate game experience.
And he doesn’t have a starting quarterback.
That doesn’t bode well for a coach entering his first bout of Spring practices in Gainesville.
At this point, a normal Spring game to close out the practice season is almost out of the question for the second time in three years — McElwain even joked about going arena-league style this year, heckling about players scoring off the nets in the O’Connell Center.
But even at that, McElwain is embracing the challenge, a commendable task despite the tall order he will face.
"We all knew this was coming, so it’s not a shock," McElwain said. "But we’re going to have to adjust how we practice, the amount of reps we get and the different ways in which we do things from a practice structure."
McElwain has a tough road ahead.
Fans are expecting him to be the savior of Florida football — similar to Urban Meyer after the firing of Ron Zook back in 2004.
They want to see Florida return to its glory days, the days where the Gators were contenders in the Southeastern Conference.
That could happen.
Anything could happen.
But for McElwain to have any chance to give fans hope about the future, he needs health to be on his side until his remaining 19 recruits from the 2015 class arrive on campus.
One more injury — especially on that already fragile and inexperienced offensive line — and the Gators will be in serious trouble.
"Even if you get one dinged or a couple dinged here and there, then that’s really gonna change how we do things," McElwain said.
"... There’s no replacing true reps and so when you see kind of how we practice, guys aren’t standing around."
Spring practice will be an interesting ride for McElwain and Co.
He has yet to see his players practice up close and personal outside of watching film — some of which is solely from practice footage McElwain had to dig up.
If he can come out with a solid group, this team has the potential to surprise many in his inaugural season at UF.
But if any sort of injury bug hits the deck, he can be looking at trouble.
McElwain is confident he can get the work done, but at the end of the day, it’s a number’s game.
And right now, with Spring practice about to get underway, the numbers don’t seem to favor Jim McElwain.
Maybe time will change that.
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Florida coach Jim McElwain speaks about UF's 2015 recruiting class during a press conference on Feb. 4 in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
