Reports: Florida fires Jim McElwain

Florida Gators head coach Jim McElwain has reportedly been fired, according to a report from Football Scoop, a report from Graham Hall of The Gainesville Sun, and a report from former ESPN reporter Brett McMurphy.

While reporting from Robbie Andreu of The Gainesville Sun suggested Florida players have been told of McElwain’s departure, subsequent tweets from players have suggested otherwise. Reportedly, a meeting with players will take place at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

A move on McElwain had suddenly become widely expected as of Saturday night, after a tumultous week that began with McElwain revealing “death threats” against members of Florida’s program and families — ones he refused to elaborate on in detail, prompting a cryptic statement from Florida in the hours afterward and some regret on McElwain’s part days later — and ended with his team falling to Georgia in a 42-7 rout as reports suggested Florida was working on a buyout and trying to assess whether it could fire McElwain with cause.

A report from ESPN on Saturday suggested that Florida would elevate defensive coordinator Randy Shannon to interim head coach. McMurphy’s report includes the detail that Shannon is still expected to become Florida’s interim head coach.

Florida has yet to issue a statement on McElwain’s status.