McElwain, who was then the coach at Florida, spoke slowly, carefully and quietly while describing the emotions of losing the SEC championship, 29-15, to Alabama, the eventual national champion, just moments before.

"You know what, there's a lot of disappointed guys in that locker room," he said to reporters following the contest. "And, uh, that's good to see."

He went on to describe his admiration for his players and the effort they had put into their performance during the season.

McElwain's pain was evident in the long periods of silence within his responses. He also directed praise toward Nick Saban, coach of the Crimson Tide.

"We're a program on the rise; we're a program on the build," McElwain said. "We're gonna have a good football team here, and a lot of them in the future."

In his first championship game as a head coach, McElwain came close but could not finish the job.

In his second year at Florida, McElwain returned to the same spot in the 2016 season.

Unfortunately for McElwain, the result was the same. His Florida Gators again suffered defeat at the hands of the Crimson Tide, this time a 54-16 romp

Alabama finished the campaign as the national runner-up.

This time, McElwain began by directing credit toward Saban, calling the 2016 Crimson Tide, "the best team, top to bottom, that he's had since he's been there."

McElwain was more straightforward following the loss as opposed to the previous season. Adamant that this wasn't the result he wanted, McElwain was honest with the media about his goals.

"I didn't come here to be close," McElwain said. "We came here to be champions of the SEC. That's what you do when you're at the University of Florida. That's the expectation."

Now, on Saturday, McElwain will get his third crack as a head coach at winning a conference championship.

He is in his first year with Central Michigan and will take on Miami (Ohio) at noon, with the winner claiming the Mid-American Conference Championship and, given prior trends, a likely bid to the LendingTree Mobile Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

While some may interpret this to be a personal quest for McElwain, he is quick to deflect that notion in favor of his affection for his players.

"That's never been a self-driven goal," McElwain said of winning a conference title. "For me, it's to see the joy and the excitement and the growth of the players."

In his time at Florida, McElwain was 22-12 in just under three seasons. He was fired following a 42-7 loss to Georgia.

Spending a single year with Michigan as the wide receivers coach, he waited for another opportunity to present itself.

After just one season, Central Michigan athletic director Michael Alford came calling.

On Dec. 2, McElwain was hired to be the next head coach of the Chippewas.

When McElwain was hired, it was certainly expected that he would eventually resurrect a program trending downward following a 1-11 season.

However, when the preseason polls came out, only one voter selected the Chippewas to be MAC champions.

With the shocking turnaround, McElwain has further cemented his reputation as a winner.

But he's not worried about reputations, opinions or individual milestones. While he relishes the opportunity to coach in championship games, he knows that it's the players who win the games. For players and coaches alike, championships are unique opportunities.

"Ultimately, it really comes down to the guys, really focus on their routine," McElwain told reporters on Wednesday. "In our case, when you look at this game, I want them to go enjoy it. How many times do you get this opportunity?"

While prior losses don't bother him, they serve as solid points of reference to evaluate his personal development as a coach.

"Looking back at those championship games, both when I was an assistant and as a head coach, being able to play on this day, which is championship weekend, you're able to look back and say, 'Well maybe that did work or that did work,'" McElwain said. "Obviously, you want your team to play the best and be proud of what they put on film. That's what we've been stressing this week."

McElwain has made his commitment to the players and, to him, a conference championship would serve as a payoff for all the hard work put in by the athletes in his locker room.

"It would be, you know, just you go in and you do this and the hours you put in and the things that you put into it," McElwain said, "and yet for me it would be just seeing the excitement and just seeing the joy on a player's face and the satisfaction and the coaching staff for a job well done."

A wide grin cracked across the face of the grizzled veteran coach.

"That's really how I get my joy, is really seeing the success of the players and seeing the growth of the staff," McElwain said. "That's what makes this a lot of fun."

When Chippewa players teamed up to give McElwain a Gatorade bath in the late stages of Central Michigan's season ending 49-7 victory over Toledo, all he could do was smile.

When talking about his players, all he did was smile.

Should the Chippewas finish the job on Saturday, you can bet on more of the same.

The sorrow caused by losses in similar situations earlier in his career will be nowhere to be found.