BOZEMAN - Decked out in yellow Montana State garb fitting for the Bobcats' annual Gold Rush football home opener, Jim McElwain mingled and coalesced with friends and former colleagues in what had to feel like a blast from the past.
Coaching took McElwain, a Missoula native, all over the country during his nearly 40-year career on the sidelines. Notably, he served as offensive coordinator at MSU from 1995-99 prior to later head jobs at Colorado State, Florida, and, most recently, Central Michigan.
But his return to Bobcat Stadium last week was a full-circle moment more than two decades in the making.
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"It's been 25 years," McElwain told MTN Sports prior to kickoff Saturday between Montana State and South Dakota State. "Joey Roberts — who's a good high school buddy of mine that played here — invited us, and they were gracious enough to have us back. So it's fantastic."
McElwain retired from coaching after the 2024 season at Central Michigan, and he and his wife, Karen, returned to Montana and have settled in the Flathead Valley along Kings Point.
The aforementioned Roberts, a teammate of McElwain's at Sentinel High School in Missoula, is a hero in Montana State football lore for his interception return for a touchdown in a 1984 playoff game against Rhode Island — a major moment in MSU's run to the national title that season.
McElwain went on to play quarterback at Eastern Washington and also began his coaching career with the Eagles. But his ties to the Bobcats, forged in the 1990s, are still strong. And Roberts' invitation to attend Saturday's game was too good to pass up.
"We've been so grateful for all the people we've met along the way," McElwain said. "I'm the most fortunate guy in the world. I've had an unbelievable run."
"We loved it here," he added. "Even after 25 years, the people that you see, being able to give them a hug, a lot of the former players ... (it's) why you do it. Bozeman's a special place with special people."
McElwain coached under Cliff Hysell at Montana State but moved on to take an offensive assistant job at Louisville after the 1999 season, which was the late Hysell's last with the Bobcats.
From there, McElwain coached at Michigan State and Fresno State, and also served as the quarterback coach for the NFL's Oakland Raiders in 2006.
From 2008-11 he served in his most high-profile assistant job as offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Alabama under Nick Saban, winning national championships in each of his final two years with the Crimson Tide. That run was parlayed into the head coaching jobs at both Colorado State and Florida and later Central Michigan after a one-year stop as the wide receivers coach at Michigan under Jim Harbaugh.
In all, McElwain went 77-64 as a head coach, winning 10 games at Colorado State in 2014 and again at Florida in 2015. He won three bowl games.
Having coached at the pinnacle of college football, McElwain seemed more than impressed by the atmosphere at Montana State last week. It was a double-overtime thriller that produced a new record attendance of 22,117 at Bobcat Stadium — almost all of them clad in Gold Rush regalia.
A lot has changed in 25 years.
"My hat's off to what they've done and created here," he said. "This is incredible. Leon (athletic director Leon Costello) .... they've got to keep him. Coach (Brent) Vigen is unbelievable. As I would say, going through the things I've done is just don't be in a big hurry, man. Be happy where you're at, and they should be happy where they're at, because this is incredible."
McElwain added, "I learned a lot from Cliff Hysell when I was here. And Cliff was a great man. I wish he could be here to see what this has become."
Though he's retired, McElwain might find it hard to scratch the coaching itch. But he's doing his best to approach this season — his first away from the sideline in decades — as an observer more than anything.
And McElwain said he plans to attend Montana's game this week against North Dakota at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in his hometown of Missoula.
"My wife encourages me just to be a fan and enjoy it. But obviously, if it's third and 6, I'm kind of trying to figure out what each side of the ball should do. But at the end of the day, I'm a fan. I'm just excited to be here."
