Sources are reporting that Florida Gator head football coach Will Muschamp is out as the head coach. Word coming out of Gainesville is Muschamp will step down from his position at seasons end. The news comes off a 23-20 heartbreaking overtime loss to South Carolina in a game that the Gators had all but wrapped up before special teams errors let the Gamecocks make the late comeback.
The loss dropped Muschamp to 27-20 at the school and just 17-15 in conference play. After nearly two years of calling for his head, the fans finally get their wish.
Now don’t get me wrong, I like Will Muschamp. I think he is a super good dude, he’s a passionate football coach, and he worked his tail off to try and get this largely renegade program on the straight and narrow, playing competitive football, and making the right choices on and off the field.
He made great strides off the field. After years of players appearing in the police log as much as the box score, Muschamp’s players stayed on the right side of the law. The past four years his team has let the other major schools in Florida steal those headlines. His team also enjoyed great success in the classroom and improved their graduation rate over the previous regime. There is no denying he changed the culture of this program off the field.
Unfortunately, he also changed it ON the field. After a 7-6 first year with Urban Meyer players, Muschamp enjoyed his only success at Florida. His team went 11-1 in the regular season, rose all the way to #2 in the AP poll, and just missed out on playing for an SEC and National Championship. However, with over a month to prepare for Louisville in the Sugar Bowl, his team laid and egg and got run off the field in what would be a sign of things to come.
The following season the Gators would suffer 13 season ending injuries on their way to a 4-8 record and their first losing season since 1979. This season they are just 5-4 and should just barely back their way into a bowl game.
This team is just 2-6 in their last eight at home. Opposing teams no longer fear coming to the Swamp. Recruits are looking at this school as the powerhouse program it should be. Just how exactly did we get to this point?
I believe Will Muschamp is a good football coach. I really do. The man can coach a defense better than most in his profession. The Gators defense has been the anchor of this team in each of his four years at the helm. So their is evidence that he does know football. However, I feel like Muschamp lacks the ability to concentrate on the small details.
Look at the issues that have plagued this program since he took over: too many penalties, costly turnovers, dropped passes, special teams mistakes, and other close calls that point to this team lacking the proper disciple.
Will seems to thrive when he can concentrate on a small area of the game. He seems to become confused and in over his head when he has to control EVERYTHING.
Just this weekend coach Muschamp called a timeout before a crucial field goal attempt with the Gators leading 17-10 with just under three minutes to play. Muschamp had the whole time out to remind his team on the FUNDAMENTALS of the play. Who their assignment was, to make sure they block their man, and give the kicker enough time to get the attempt off. Instead, South Carolina easily cuts through the line like a hot knife through butter and blocks the kick. They would also block a punt to setup overtime where they would ultimately win. There is no excuse for this. He needs to have his guys ready for that play.
The Gators could very easily be 3-6 right now. In both the Kentucky and Tennessee games they had the play clock reach zero just as the snap of the ball was taking place. The refs failed to blow the whistle on either play which both were instrumental in the Gator narrow victories. These could have both been delay of games, something that is INEXCUSABLE on crunch time plays where the game is on the line. This is another example of lack of disciple.
I can give you dozens of these cases over the past four years. Silly penalties like holding away from the ball. Numerous occasions of blocking their own man instead of the defender. Dropped passes like the one by Michael Westbrook against LSU that his these receivers in the hands. These guys just aren’t being prepared for big time, high pressure football.
In the SEC you can’t win games week in and week out with these costly mistakes. In the end it isn’t because he burnt through three offensive coordinators. It isn’t because he can’t coach defense or doesn’t know the game of football. It is just because Will Muschamp wasn’t READY to be the head coach on this stage.
I believe that is truely the biggest problem. Coach Muschamp is a good man and good football coach who wasn’t ready for prime time. He did his best, but as the pressure intensified all around him, his walls began to crumble down. After that, he was a fish out of water, just hoping that maybe his luck would eventually change.
Coach Muschamp should have been able to learn his craft and cut his teeth as a head coach at a smaller school for at least a year, ala Coach Malzahn at South Alabama, before he became the head coach at an SEC school. Especially one with the expectations of Florida. That isn’t his fault, that is squarely on AD Jeremy Foley.
Foley should have known better. He should have looked around the conference at coaches like Nick Saban, Les Miles, Mark Richt, and Steve Spurrier and knew that these guys have been working at their craft for decades. He should have targeted someone with experience. Someone who has been the head man of a football team in the past.
He will have to learn from this experience and make sure he doesn’t make the same mistake again. Florida is moving into it’s third head coaching search in the past ten years. This will be Foley’s biggest decision to date and he has to make a better decision than he did in 2010.
Hopefully he focuses on the little details and he gets someone who can lead this program to where it should be, national prominence.
It’s on you now Foley.
Best of luck in the future Coach Muschamp.
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