Jim McElwain Regrets Rant, But Won’t Apologize: Florida Coach Tore Into RB Kelvin Taylor With Expletive-Laden Outburst [Video]

Florida head coach Jim McElwain maintained that his verbal attack on the team’s running back, Kelvin Taylor, was indeed a little too extreme, but he wasn’t going to apologize for the same.

Florida Gators coach Jim McElwain attempted to placate those who felt the angry rant he let loose on Taylor was out of line by speaking at a news conference in Gainesville, but categorically mentioned that he wasn’t apologetic or remorseful that it happened.

“I’m not proud of it and neither is my 94 years old mother. I got an earful from her, too, and rightfully so. It’s one of the things that we’ve got to learn. Unforced errors are something that we cannot do.

In case you guys haven’t figured out by now, I’m a pretty passionate guy, a pretty emotional guy. I’m by no means perfect and I do know our players know how much I care about them

Am I proud of it? Absolutely not. Do I feel bad about it? Yes. I make mistakes as well, have to learn about it and move forward. We talked about how hard (Taylor) played. We talked about the lessons and I hugged him, just like I did after the incident happened.”

Though the two seem to have buried the hatchet, McElwain demoted Taylor from first to third team on the depth chart. What’s equally surprising is that the head coach wouldn’t mind using harsher penalties to get his point across. Asked whether he would consider using the bench as a way to get his point across in the future, McElwain said he would, reported Jacksonville.

“I think one of the things you learn, you take something away that’s important to you.”

Though demoted, Taylor maintained a professional outlook and mentioned on Twitter that “he respected McElwain and believed his coaching would make him into a better man.” But his father doesn’t share the young man’s opinion, reported Sport Act. Kelvin’s father, Fred Taylor, a former Gators running back and 13-year NFL veteran, called it an “overreaction” during a radio interview, but understood why the coach acted the way he did.

“I do understand coaching and I understand the moment. My son does want more carries, but in this instance, he needed to be a smarter player.”

Though the audio from the video has been stripped, the one-sided conversation, or rather, a full-frontal verbal assault, is quite apparent from the facial expression and hand gesture of Jim McElwain, as well as the meek reaction offered by Kelvin Taylor.

[Image Credit: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images]