College football coach takes $400,000 loss on home for heartwarming reason
There’s nothing that Jim McElwain can do about his disappointing time as the University of Florida’s head football coach.
The Gators went 22-21 with him leading the charge, the latest step in a decline from their national championship years under Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier.
Things got so bad last fall that McElwain was fired in midseason after three straight losses amid claims he had received death threats.
So when word came out that the McElwains were taking a $400,000 hit while selling their house in Gainesville, the jokes came flying.
The Tampa Bay Times mocked him with a teaser last month that read, “McElwain sells home, takes another loss.”
Ok, @TBTimes_Sports…which one of you did this? Speak up, so all may know. pic.twitter.com/1NKMqB2J9Q
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) March 23, 2018
Yes, this was a dream come true for Gator fans who wanted McElwain out.
Former Florida coach Jim McElwain took a loss on the house he had purchased in Gainesville, selling the property for $400k less than what he bought it for.https://t.co/d0sIJOFFEW
— Glenn Wong (@WongSportsLaw) March 24, 2018
Now, however, word has come that McElwain had a noble reason for losing money — to help a family in need.
Tyler Staab, 20, and his sister, 17-year-old Samantha, both suffer from dystonia, a neurological disease that causes involuntary muscle contractions.
Tyler has no use of the left side of his body and uses a wheelchair. Samantha is struggling to walk.
Because of their special needs, Tyler and Samantha Staab needed a special house.
Their father, Rick Staab, told the Tampa Bay Times that he had been to a charity function at McElwain’s estate and thought it would be a great place for his family.
A previous owner of the house designed the 5,600-square-foot home to be wheelchair-friendly, with wide hallways, open rooms and ramps.
An eight-car garage, where McElwain hosted other coaches, would be an ideal apartment for Tyler.
There was just one problem.
“I said, ‘Listen, I don’t know what it’s worth or whatever,'” Rick Staab told the real estate agent. “‘But this is what I can do.'”
Initially, the McElwains turned down the offer. Even $1 million was $800,000 lower than their asking price, and $400,000 less than they had paid for the home.
Once the McElwains learned why the Staabs needed their house, however, a deal was struck.
McElwain, now the receivers coach at Michigan, didn’t respond to reporters for this story, but Rick Staab made a great point.
The lifelong Gators fan said what’s on the field should stay there. “It frustrates me when I go and the offense isn’t performing, or we run the same play [repeatedly] … I just don’t think we should judge people based on coaching,” Staab told the Times.
It turns out the joke is on the people who mocked McElwain, a coach who may have taken a financial loss but scored an even bigger victory.
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