There has been no official confirmation from either side that Jim McElwain is leaving Alabama for Colorado State, but it is happening. It is now being reported that there is a contract in place for McElwain that will pay him $1.5 million per season for five years. That amount is over double Steve Fairchild's salary which was $700,000 before bonuses. The $1.5 million would put him right there with Boise State's Chris Petersen who earns just over $1.5 million per year.
Another issue on the table is when McElwain would be leaving the Alabama program and according to Izzy Gould of al.com Alabama head coach Nick Saban is meeting with his staff about McElwain's departure. However, Mark Schlabach is reporting that McElwain will coach Alabama through the title game.
Alabama takes on LSU in the BCS title game on Jan. 9 and McElwain is the play caller for the Alabama offense, so if the reports are true about McElwain staying on with Alabama he will be working two jobs at once which will be difficult.
Over at Roll Bama Roll, they make a good point about McElwain staying through the bowl game:
You would have to think that he would probably stay for the championship game simply because of the publicity it would create for Colorado State, which could help tremendously with recruiting ...
That would create publicity for Colorado State as it would be mentioned throughout the game that McElwain would be the Colorado State head coach, but doing two jobs at once even for a single month is difficult.
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