McElwain calls shark photo an attack on university, family

Jim McElwain may one day be able to escape questions surrounding the now infamous photo involving a man bearing his likeness laying naked with a shark, but Tuesday wasn't that day.

The Florida head coach may have been hoping to avoid the topic when he took to the podium at SEC Media Days, but when confronted with the topic, McElwain at first seemed to take a humorous approach, even chuckling at one point, before giving a very serious answer.

"You know, I love the humor in it, all right," McElwain said. "And yet, you know what, what it did, that actually not only attacked the university, but attacked my family, when you know it's not you - you know, I bust chops with the best of them now, and yet when it got personal ..."

Related: Jim McElwain adamantly denies being naked man in viral shark picture

The photo in question surfaced in early May and swept the Gators head coach in a swirl of rumors because of a similar likeness to the man in the photo. It was determined shortly after that McElwain was indeed not the man in the photo, but the effect of the publicity clearly affected him nonetheless.