Jim McElwain's Doug Nussmeier Hire at Florida Does Not Inspire

The pieces of new Florida head coach Jim McElwain's coaching staff are coming together, and the latest one added to the puzzle is a familiar face.

Doug Nussmeier—who helped lead the Alabama Crimson Tide to a national title in 2012—has joined McElwain's staff in Gainesville as the new offensive coordinator of the Gators, per Gatorzone.com, fresh off a rather unsuccessful one-year stint on Brady Hoke's former staff at Michigan.

"I'm excited to reunite with Coach Mac—we obviously have a long history and share similar philosophies," Nussmeier said in a quote emailed by Florida. "I'm honored to join The Gator Nation and work for one of the most storied programs in all of college football."

A home run hire? Hardly.

It's more like a bloop single.

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Nussmeier's Michigan offense finished next to last in the Big Ten in total offense (333.0 yards per game) and scoring offense (20.9 points per game), and 11th in yards per play (5.32). Quarterback Devin Gardner threw 15 picks and only 10 touchdowns, and backup Shane Morris wasn't much better, throwing three interceptions without finding the end zone once.

Nussmeier's work at Alabama was better.

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

The Crimson Tide finished sixth in the SEC in total offense in 2013 (454.1 yards per game) and second in yards per play (7.15), and quarterbacks combined to throw at least 30 touchdown passes in each of his two seasons. For comparison, Florida didn't throw 30 touchdown passes over the last two seasons combined (27).

That's great, but is a coach who wasn't exactly missed when he left the SEC the first time really who Florida needs to run the offense?

Nope.

The Gators program became synonymous with stale offenses under former head coach Will Muschamp, and fixing that very issue was the primary reason Saban brought in Lane Kiffin to follow Nussmeier at Alabama.

Crimson Tide tight end Brian Vogler told B/R's Lars Anderson in November that a more open offense and more fun are two primary differences between Kiffin's and Nussmeier's offenses at Alabama:

"

We're having more fun this year and Coach Kiffin is a big reason why. He's opened up the offense. He really understands what players do well and he puts them in positions to succeed. And having him on the field has been key because he listens to us during games and takes our suggestions. It makes all of us feel like we're really part of the offense and part of something special.

"

"Opening things up?" "Having more fun?"

Those sound like the exact things McElwain needs to implement in Gainesville, rather than replicate Nussmeier's Alabama offense.

Plus, the timing of this hire is bizarre.

Scott Roussel of FootballScoop.com said on his radio show (3:20 mark) on Sunday that Alabama wide receivers coach Billy Napier was the name to watch, but that, obviously, nothing could transpire until after Alabama's playoff run ends.

So why Nussmeier, and why now?

It's not like he's a fresh name on the coaching scene. He had been available ever since Michigan fired Hoke on Dec. 2, and it's not like he was getting any top head coaching offers during the holiday season.

Did something change in Florida's search that forced Florida to land on Nussmeier? If he was the top choice all along, what took so long?

Florida isn't getting a fresh start with Nussmeier. It's getting more of the same, just with a slightly different twist.

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Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.