Jim McElwain Jim McElwain ( born March 1 , 1962 ) is an American football coach . He is currently the head coach of the Colorado State Rams . McElwain was hired on December 13 , 2011 . Early life . Jim McElwain was born in Missoula , Montana in 1962 . He played quarterback at Sentinel High School in Missoula where he was chosen as an all - state quarterback . He then went on to play quarterback in college at Eastern Washington from 1980 to 1983 , and he earned a degree in education . Coaching career . Early career . After graduating from Eastern Washington he stayed there as a graduate assistant and was eventually given the job of quarterbacks and receivers coach . During his stint as a coach there from 1985 to 1994 his team made its way to the NCAA Division I - AA playoffs twice and won the Big Sky championship in 1992 under head coach Dick Zornes . From Eastern Washington , McElwain took an offensive coordinator position at Montana State . He enjoyed a successful career with the Bobcats from 1995 to 1999 , and coached the offense to the number one scoring offense in the Big Sky Conference in 1998 with 31 . 6 points per game . His first coaching job in Division I - A football was at University of Louisville where he was the receivers and special teams coach from 2000 to 2002 . At Louisville he tutored All - Conference USA receivers Arnold Jackson , Deion Branch , Damien Dorsey and Zek Parker . Also his special teams set a school record of nine blocked kicks in 2000 – 2001 season . He was then offered the assistant head coaching position at Michigan State when he followed Louisville ’ s head coach John L . Smith there . With the Spartans his coaching of the receivers and special teams helped lead them to the Alamo Bowl in his first season . Oakland Raiders . Jim McElwain ’ s National Football League coaching career was very brief . After his success at Michigan State he was offered a job to be the quarterback coach for the Oakland Raiders . He was only with them for one year in which the Oakland Raiders ended the season 2 – 14 . McElwain was dismissed along with many of the other coaches on the team , including head coach Art Shell . Return to college football . In 2007 , Jim McElwain was contacted by Fresno State , and he accepted a job to become their offensive coordinator . While at Fresno State he built a powerhouse offense which ranked 38th in the country averaging 419 . 5 yards a game and 32nd in the nation in points per game with 32 . 9 . He helped lead them to a 9 – 4 record on the year and beating Georgia Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl . On February 1 , 2008 , McElwain accepted an offer from Nick Saban to be the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama . In his first season as the offensive coordinator , the Crimson Tide finished the regular season 12 – 0 ; then lost their last two games to the University of Florida in the 2008 SEC Championship Game and the University of Utah in the 2009 Sugar Bowl . In 2009 , his offense led the Crimson Tide to a 12 – 0 regular season record . They then went on to defeat the number one team in the country , the Florida Gators , in the 2009 SEC Championship Game . There his offense dominated the Gators number one defense in the country and compiled 490 yards of offense , more than twice the yards the Gators defense had averaged giving up all year . McElwain ' s offense out rushed the Gators offense 251 yards to 88 yards . 63 of those yards coming from the 2007 Heisman winner Tim Tebow . His offense put up 32 points and held on to the ball for 39 minutes and 37 seconds , almost twice the Gators total of 20 minutes and 23 seconds . Alabama went on to beat the Texas Longhorns in the 2010 BCS National Championship Game . In 2011 , the Crimson Tide finished the season with a 12 – 1 record , and beat the LSU Tigers 21 – 0 in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game . Colorado State . On December 12 , 2011 , sources revealed that McElwain had accepted the head coaching position with Colorado State . A press conference was held at the Colorado State University Rams indoor practice facility on December 13 , 2011 to officially announce the hiring . McElwain ' s tenure , dubbed by the school ' s athletic department as " A Bold New Era " , began on a high note . McElwain ' s Rams rallied from an 11 - point deficit to defeat arch - rival Colorado 22 - 17 at Sports Authority Field in Denver on September 1 . McElwain became the first CSU coach to win his debut since Jerry Wampfler in 1970 and the first to ever win his debut against CU . The momentum didn ' t last long , though , as CSU suffered a 22 - 9 setback in their home opener one week later to defending FCS National Champion North Dakota State . It was the first time in 20 years CSU had lost to a team from the FCS ( formerly 1 - AA ) division and was the start of a six game losing skid . The program did show improvement towards the end of the season , winning three of their final five games to finish 4 - 8 in McElwain ' s first season . Personal life . Jim McElwain is married to Karen McElwain , and has two daughters Johanna and Elizabeth , and one son Jerrett .