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Central Michigan hires Jim McElwain to rebuild 1-11 Chippewas

By Brad Berreman

GAINESVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Jim McElwain of the Florida Gators signals to his players during the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Jim McElwain of the Florida Gators signals to his players during the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /
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After a 1-11 campaign led to the firing of John Bonamego, Central Michigan is hiring Jim McElwain to bring a quick turnaround.

The Central Michigan Chippewas made a bowl game in each of John Bonamego’s first three seasons as head coach. But a 1-11 season this year, with the lone win coming against an FCS team (Maine), led to Bonamego being fired. On Sunday Evan Petzold of CM Life was first to report Jim McElwain will be hired as the new coach of the Chippewas, with a press conference expected on Monday.

McElwain has spent this season as wide receivers coach at Michigan. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Florida for two-plus seasons before a bizarre departure seven games into the 2017 season. He also spent three seasons as head coach at Colorado State (2012-2014), after being Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator at Alabama for four seasons (2008-2011).

McElwain took Colorado State from 4-8 in his first season to 10 wins in his third season before leaving for the job at Florida. Things went the opposite way in Gainesville, with 10 wins and nine wins in his first two seasons before a 3-4 mark at the point of his mid-season dismissal last year.

McElwain would surely like another shot at a Power 5 school, but resetting at a smaller school is the best option. If he can find a quarterback, that will be a good start to re-establishing himself during a tenure at Central Michigan.

The Chippewas lost Cooper Rush to the NFL a couple of years ago and then had Michigan grad transfer Shane Morris to hold down the fort in 2017. But this year things went completely off the rails under center, as could be expected during a one-win season.

Tony Poljan couldn’t cut it before making a formal full position switch late in the season, and Tommy Lazzaro showed some promise as a runner before suffering a season-ending leg injury. Redshirt freshman Austin Hergott started the final two games of the season, and true freshman George Pearson saw action in the season finale. All told, Central Michigan’s quarterbacks combined to throw for 1,585 yards, with nine touchdowns and 18 interceptions, while completing less than 49 percent of their passes and averaging less than 4.5 yards per attempt.

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McElwain has not lasted long at his two previous head coaching jobs, due to quick success (Colorado State) and the failure to reach higher expectations mixed with reasons beyond wins and losses (Florida). If he only lasts three seasons at Central Michigan, it will almost certainly be for the first reason as bigger schools notice him again.

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