Catching Up With Coach McElwain

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:19 am

http://missoulian.com/articles/2008/06/ ... orts06.txt

omahacat · Post by **omahacat** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:49 pm

So was he faking it for 5 years in Bozeman. He couldn't get us a win against the Griz because his heart wasn't in it!

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 3:27 pm

omahacat wrote:So was he faking it for 5 years in Bozeman. He couldn't get us a win against the Griz because his heart wasn't in it!

He's doing an interview with his hometown newspaper where his folks and several family members live, I wouldn't read too much into it. Trust me we always had an FTG party when the griz were in a playoff game while Mac was in Bozeman.

lifesapuntreturn · Post by **lifesapuntreturn** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:40 am

"I'm one of those guys who is loyal to wherever we're at."

Old Skool Cat · Post by **Old Skool Cat** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:53 am

I guess the comment puts me off a little bit. I mean think about it, what's his connection to UM other than he grew up in Missoula? He never played for UM (not sure if they even offered him a scholarship, and if they did, why didn't he take it?) and he never coached for UM (not sure if they even offered him a job, and if they did, why didn't he take it?) So why the blasphemy of coaching the Cats? We've had plenty of kids from Missoula and that area of Montana play for the Cats and they have never described their days at MSU as blasphemy. It's funny that the community of Missoula now embraces him only after he's made the jump to a very high-profile school. I guess if loyalty can be so easily bought & sold, then I hope his Alabama offense gets wiped off the field.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:44 am

Yeah, pretty tacky. It's kind of throwing his old friends from MSU under the bus ... and without any real apparent payoff for doing so. Would people in Missoula have thought any less of him had he taken the high road and made a gracious comment about his time at MSU? I would hope not. Oh well. I guess we were the fools for following his career post-MSU and wishing him well.

catamaran · Post by **catamaran** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:57 am

When I talked to him last summer, he seemed truly disappointed at the timing of his hiring at Fresno. He was offered an interview here but felt like he couldn't move his family again if he got the job. That being said, there is a whole world of difference between MSU and Alabama

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:26 am

Bay Area Cat wrote:Yeah, pretty tacky. It's kind of throwing his old friends from MSU under the bus ... and without any real apparent payoff for doing so. Would people in Missoula have thought any less of him had he taken the high road and made a gracious comment about his time at MSU? I would hope not. Oh well. I guess we were the fools for following his career post-MSU and wishing him well.

I'd just add for those who don't know him that Mac has a great sense of humor. I just don't think he would say anything purposefully against his time at MSU, you don't follow the career path he has in coaching by burning bridges. Knowing Mac I can see him making that statement in jest to a Missoulian reporter and having it taken out of context.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:41 am

GOKATS wrote:
Bay Area Cat wrote:Yeah, pretty tacky. It's kind of throwing his old friends from MSU under the bus ... and without any real apparent payoff for doing so. Would people in Missoula have thought any less of him had he taken the high road and made a gracious comment about his time at MSU? I would hope not. Oh well. I guess we were the fools for following his career post-MSU and wishing him well.
I'd just add for those who don't know him that Mac has a great sense of humor. I just don't think he would say anything purposefully against his time at MSU, you don't follow the career path he has in coaching by burning bridges. Knowing Mac I can see him making that statement in jest to a Missoulian reporter and having it taken out of context.

I could see how that would happen ... in which case it would just be really unfortunate for all parties involved.

GrizinWashington · Post by **GrizinWashington** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:01 pm

I think you guys are misreading this. Read this again:

The closest he came to living in Missoula was a five-season stint coaching at Montana State in Bozeman. All of which causes him some grief.

“It was blasphemy to coach at Montana State, I guess,” said McElwain

It sounds to me as though Jim was getting some good-natured grief from his buddies for coaching at MSU and he says that from their perspective it was blasphemy to coach at MSU. I don't think he feels that way.

GOKATS · Post by **GOKATS** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:41 pm

GrizinWashington wrote:I think you guys are misreading this. Read this again:

The closest he came to living in Missoula was a five-season stint coaching at Montana State in Bozeman. All of which causes him some grief.

“It was blasphemy to coach at Montana State, I guess,” said McElwain
It sounds to me as though Jim was getting some good-natured grief from his buddies for coaching at MSU and he says that from their perspective it was blasphemy to coach at MSU. I don't think he feels that way.

Good point and it does make sense if you read it that way. As I said, I just can't see Mac saying anything bad about MSU, I know he really liked coaching here and he and Karen liked Bozeman and made many friends.

Bleedinbluengold · Post by **Bleedinbluengold** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:39 pm

Mac bled Blue and Gold when he was at MSU and it pissed him off to lose to the griz. His "blasphemy" comment was made about his friends here in Missoula, who gave/give him plenty of crap for growing up in Missoula and coaching at MSU. But it was just that; dishing out a bunch of crap to Mac. And, if you know Mac, he can take as much crap as he dishes out, which is a lot.

In my opinion, he really considered interviewing for the MSU job after Krames was canned. But like GoKats said, he and his family loved Fresno and it was just not the right time given the move and salary. However, when you get a multi-year contract for 3X more at a much more prestigous program (ya, I'd say Alabama has a little more going for it than 'ol MSU), I think the pros obviously outweighed the cons when it came to considering a job offer from Alabama. He'll do great there...he connects very well with players.

Bottom line: Mac's an MSU guy for sure.

catamaran · Post by **catamaran** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:45 pm

Bleedinbluengold wrote:Mac bled Blue and Gold when he was at MSU and it pissed him off to lose to the griz. His "blasphemy" comment was made about his friends here in Missoula, who gave/give him plenty of crap for growing up in Missoula and coaching at MSU. But it was just that; dishing out a bunch of crap to Mac. And, if you know Mac, he can take as much crap as he dishes out, which is a lot.

In my opinion, he really considered interviewing for the MSU job after Krames was canned. But like GoKats said, he and his family loved Fresno and it was just not the right time given the move and salary. However, when you get a multi-year contract for 3X more at a much more prestigous program (ya, I'd say Alabama has a little more going for it than 'ol MSU), I think the pros obviously outweighed the cons when it came to considering a job offer from Alabama. He'll do great there...he connects very well with players.

Bottom line: Mac's an MSU guy for sure.

he said as much

omahacat · Post by **omahacat** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:29 pm

I hope he was f$cking around because alot of us that played for him don't hearing things like that combined with his play calling in certain games!

HassFan · Post by **HassFan** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:54 pm

GOKATS wrote:
Bay Area Cat wrote:Yeah, pretty tacky. It's kind of throwing his old friends from MSU under the bus ... and without any real apparent payoff for doing so. Would people in Missoula have thought any less of him had he taken the high road and made a gracious comment about his time at MSU? I would hope not. Oh well. I guess we were the fools for following his career post-MSU and wishing him well.
I'd just add for those who don't know him that Mac has a great sense of humor. I just don't think he would say anything purposefully against his time at MSU, you don't follow the career path he has in coaching by burning bridges. Knowing Mac I can see him making that statement in jest to a Missoulian reporter and having it taken out of context.

Having seen this reporters stories over the years, I could easily see how the statement could have been taken out of context.