After back-to-back SEC East titles, Florida fans are somewhat still undecided about the laid-back Jim McElwain.

Aside from the 2017 class, recruiting has been average by Florida’s standards. The quarterback position has been average with no proven starter in sight. FSU clearly has the upper hand in the rivalry. Alabama has throttled the Gators two years in a row in Atlanta.

More is expected. After all, it’s Florida. Steve Spurrier built it into a national powerhouse, and Urban Meyer helped take it to different heights. Fans demand more in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately arms race of college football.

McElwain hasn’t proven to be in the mold of either Spurrier or Meyer, but it looks like the folksy bluesman is starting to find himself as an SEC head coach and making the changes necessary to ensure the program gets back to elite level.

The last week has been spectacular for Florida, and fans should lay their doubts aside and buy in now. Here’s why.

National Signing Day

On Jan. 25, when cornerback Elijah Blades decommitted from Florida, the Gators fell all the way to No. 31 in the recruiting rankings. Fans and media alike were questioning Florida and wondering what’s going on in Gainesville. How did McElwain respond? He finished with the No. 10 recruiting class and had one of the strongest closes on signing day in quite some time.

No, the Gators didn’t sign a top-5 class and didn’t sign a single 5-star prospect, but the way McElwain and staff closed signals he might have figured something out. The way he and his staff went into South Florida and pulled multiple prospects away from Miami was impressive. To have so much riding on the line on the biggest day of the year for recruiting is one thing. To deliver on that day is something completely different. It’s called momentum.

Specifically, troubled wide receiver James Robinson made it into the class, which helped propel the Gators to finish in the top 10 in recruiting rankings. Robinson, who was cited for pot possession on his Ohio State visit, wasn’t going to be accepted by the Florida administration because of his recent actions. But McElwain fought like hell to get Robinson into the class and ultimately closed the deal on signing day. The reality is programs have to take some chances on prospects in order to win championships. Robinson is good enough to take a chance on, and McElwain recognized it and made it happen.

Florida fans are used to signing multiple 5-star prospects in every recruiting cycle, and that hasn’t been happening. But one coach and program that should give the Gators hope is Dabo Swinney and Clemson. Starting in 2010, Swinney signed the No. 28 class, 10, 15, 15, 17, 9 and 11 in 2017. Swinney has taken Clemson to new heights and made it into a blossoming powerhouse, despite never signing a top-5 recruiting class. Fans were suspect as to whether the cool Swinney was in over his head, but he got that one guy in Deshaun Watson who helped take the program to a different level.

Sound familiar? Florida fans have been questioning whether McElwain is in over his head, too. Perhaps, however, it takes time to find your niche, make changes within a program and find the one player who can help you the most.

That’s a sign of building a program.

Necessary changes

Nick Saban is a great recruiter. Meyer is a great recruiter. Will Muschamp is a good recruiter. Swinney is a good recruiter. Kirby Smart is a good recruiter. As a recruiter, McElwain just isn’t on that level. The Gators also only have one or two good recruiters on staff in DL coach Chris Rumph and RBs coach Tim Skipper. But McElwain recognized the weaknesses of his staff and made the necessary changes he had to make, recruiting-wise, and closed the deals.

He hired JaJuan Seider from West Virginia as an assistant coach. Seider, from Belle Glade, Fla., is known as a dynamic South Florida recruiter, and bringing in Seider is considered a home-run hire that will pay dividends immediately.

He hired Corey Bell from USF to coach the defensive backs. Let Luther Campbell tell you about how dominant Bell can recruit in South Florida.

If Randy shannon gets Corey Bell hired as a DB coach at UF we will definitely lose every southfl recruit UM needs to hire BELL NOW — LUTHER R CAMPBELL (@unclelukereal1) December 31, 2014

Brad Davis was brought in to coach the offensive line. Davis, a Baton Rouge native, played at Oklahoma and will be able to connect with recruits much more than former coach Mike Summers. It’s an upgrade.

Credit McElwain for revamping his staff and adding weapons on the recruiting trail, something he had to do immediately.

The path forward

The biggest question for the future revolves around the quarterback position. Senior Luke Del Rio returns, along with redshirt freshmen Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask. The quarterback of the future needs to be identified this offseason, and that’s either Franks or Trask. Franks is the rawest of the signal callers, but he might have the highest ceiling. Trask might be the Week 1 starter because he’s the most ready now. Del Rio is the too-safe plan. It’s important for McElwain and OC Doug Nussmeier to hand the keys over to a younger player with more upside.

Remember, McElwain inherited a below-average offensive roster. Muschamp left the offense void of playmakers. McElwain has signed some difference-makers on offense in Antonio Callaway, Jordan Scarlett and others, and it shows he’s working to replenish the talent. That doesn’t happen overnight.

McElwain and Florida aren’t going anywhere in the SEC East. They’ve represented the struggling division each of McElwain’s first two years and they’ll contend again in Year 3.

It’s hard to argue with McElwain’s on-field product, but now it feels that he has the program heading in the right direction to make it elite again. There’s still much work to do to gain the upper hand against FSU and put together much better performances in Atlanta.

But it’s time Florida fans buy into McElwain.