re: Foley Must Be Very Confident About The NBC?

quote:

---

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jeremy Foley had never met Jim McElwain until late Tuesday afternoon.

On Saturday morning at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the University of Florida athletic director will introduce McElwain as the 25th head coach in Gators football history.

How did the hiring come to fruition? What was it like for some of the private negotiations to play out in public view? And why McElwain?

An upbeat Foley answered those questions and more during an interview Friday morning in his office as he prepared to welcome McElwain to town later this evening.

Two phone calls with McElwain will remain vivid for Foley – one on Sunday afternoon and the other on Thursday morning.

After spending two weeks with his internal staff researching candidates and vetting information from an array of sources, Foley’s search to replace Will Muschamp sped up considerably when Foley returned home late Saturday night from Tallahassee following Florida’s loss at Florida State.

By that time Foley had already targeted McElwain, who completed his third season at Colorado State on Friday, as a primary candidate.

“We identified him early and he rose to the top early,” Foley said. “He really did.”

---