Muschamp on McElwain: 'He said he could coach a dog and win'

With just eight scholarship offensive linemen in the fold this spring, new Florida coach Jim McElwain admitted last week that the depth he inherited from former coach Will Muschamp has affected the way he runs his practices.

“You’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt,” McElwain said. “And right now, quite honestly, the hand we were dealt is really insufficient at some of the areas.”

Muschamp, now the defensive coordinator at Auburn, was informed of McElwain’s comments on Thursday and backed up the sentiment he expressed in November when he said Florida had a “deep and talented roster, so don’t let that new guy tell you he ain’t got any players.”

“Certainly at the offensive line, the numbers are obviously down. I didn’t know of any comments (from McElwain). Other than that, there’s a lot of good football players sitting down there,” Muschamp said per the Montgomery Advertiser after mentioning the losses of linemen D.J. Humphries and Tyler Moore to the NFL draft.

Though he seemed to brush off McElwain’s comment at first, Muschamp couldn’t resist responding with a little jab.

“He said he could coach a dog and win,” Muschamp said. “Heck, does he like the dog better than his players?”

Muschamp is referring to a remark McElwain made during his introductory press conference in December when he said he could win with his dog.

"You got to understand this. I believe I can win with my dog Claribelle," McElwain said. "That's the attitude. There's good players here. That's just our responsibility to get that going."

Maybe Claribelle can fill in on Florida's offensive line. 

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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