GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Marjorie McElwain waits by her telephone on Saturdays this time of year, eager to hear how her son, Jim, and his football team did that day.
When UF coach Jim McElwain phoned home to Montana during the weekend, Marjorie McElwain had something to say first.
McElwain’s profane sideline outburst directed at tailback Kelvin Taylor during the Gators’ narrow win against East Carolina did not sit well at all with McElwain’s 94-year-old mother.
“I’m not proud of it and neither is my mother,” McElwain said. “I got an earful from her and rightfully so.”
McElwain volcanic sideline eruption followed a 15-yard penalty on Taylor for making throat-slashing gesture to celebrate a touchdown.
McElwain hollered and gestured at Taylor, while spewing profanity. Video of the tirade went viral, generated national headlines and became Monday morning fodder for national talk shows.
Fred Taylor, Kelvin’s father and a Gators’ legend, appeared on Miami radio host Dan Lebatard’s show Monday morning on ESPNU. Taylor called McElwain’s response “a little bit of an overreaction.”
Taylor said his son’s overzealous celebration was in reaction to the three-tailback with first-year freshman Jordan Cronkrite and Jordan Scarlett.
“Two, well, you deal with it. Three? The rhythm and that piece of it, it’s sort of frustrating,” Fred Taylor told Lebatard. “He had the opportunity to sort of punch on in and he got caught up in the celebration [like] his old man used to do.”
The NFL banned the throat-slashing gesture in 2001. A season later, Fred Taylor was fined $10,000 for using it, but he denied doing so at the time.
Kelvin Taylor was not punished for using the gesture Saturday. He re-entered the East Carolina game on the next series.
By Monday, Taylor had fallen to third on the depth chart behind the two freshmen as the Gators prepare for their SEC opener Saturday night at Kentucky.
Reached by the Associated Press, Fred Taylor said he was surprised by his son’s demotion and felt like the situation had been addressed.
“If he’s going to be consistent and this is what happens, then great,” Taylor said. “Being a starter is not the end of the world, but what point are you trying to make? Are you trying to show the media that you’re going to be a no-nonsense guy? Or are you trying to get the players’ attention? I thought you did that already.”
Kelvin Taylor’s 7-yard touchdown gave UF a 31-17 lead, but it resulted in a 15-yard penalty the Pirates turned into better position to rally against UF.
UF senior guard Trip Thurman said McElwain has made it clear to his players he will not tolerate foolish, preventable penalties.
“I think Mac gave a good point with Kelvin,” Thurman said. “Although it may not have been the right way to go about it, he definitely got his point across to us and how he wants to run the team and how we need to present ourselves to the fan base and the rest of the country.”
McElwain’s full-blown response, however, did catch his players a bit by surprise.
“We’ve seen bits and pieces of it,” UF safety Marcus Maye said.
McElwain said Monday he was “pretty passionate” about coaching, but he could have displayed better comport on the sideline last Saturday night.
McElwain stopped short of apologizing for his reaction to Taylor’s penalty, but said, “I don’t feel good about it. As you know, this is a very public job. This is a public thing that we do. I understand that I have a long ways to go and I make mistakes.”
Even so, he said it remained important to stress the Gators must stop committing penalties. UF finished the East Carolina game with 12 for 105 yards.
McElwain made it clear his admonishment of Taylor and his teammates is nothing personal.
“I give everything for these guys,” McElwain said. “That’s the why you go into coaching is because you want guys not only to be better as players, but to understand big picture things as well. This is a fun group to be around, and I really enjoy being around them.
“I do know our players know how much I care about them,” he added. “At the end of it, it also was a hug in learning from it.”
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