When Florida football coach Jim McElwain wanted to get away last summer, he headed to a place about as far as he could get from Southeastern Conference country: Montana.

During the days, McElwain would unwind by lounging on his dock and puttering around the water. But at night, he would get to work. That’s when McElwain would light a fire, kick back on the banks of Flathead Lake and stare at the big sky until the early hours of the morning.

He...