Despite being sacked by the Florida Gators for his 28-21 record as their head coach, there is no doubt Will Muschamp put together an impressive defense in Gainesville. It was his lack of creativity on the offensive side of the ball that cost him his job. Muschamp has quickly become linked with the defensive coordinator job at top SEC schools like South Carolina, Auburn and Texas A&M, with many thinking the Gamecocks are the current favorites.
There is very little in the way of actual news on this story with most of the updates coming by reports from sources which may or may not be true. Steve Spurrier had said that no defensive coaches had been fired at this point meaning there might not be a job for Muschamp, although its likely someone would be fired to make way.
Although a team like Auburn might give Muschamp the opportunity to coach a national title contender as a coordinator, Texas A&M might give him the best chance to become a head coach again in the long term. Gus Malzahn seems firmly entrenched as the Auburn head coach and Steve Spurrier at South Carolina is unpredictable in what he could do. He could easily leave after next season which would probably be too soon for Muschamp to take the reins in Columbia.
If Muschamp wants the best position to succeed and prove to the athletic directors at the top schools that he’s worth a second chance as a head coach then A&M might be the best place. Kliff Kingsbury is getting his chance at Texas Tech after a successful stint as Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator working with Johnny Manziel and is now working with his own potential star in Patrick Mahomes II. The amount of schools in Texas that could give Muschamp a place to prove himself away from the elite schools of the SEC could definitely work in his favour.
The final reason would be that the bar is set pretty low in terms of defensive standards at Texas A&M. In recent years it has been the offense that has kept the Aggies in games. Only in 2012 did the defense provide some spark behind the pass rushing efforts of Damontre Moore. While Von Miller was a one man wrecking crew in 2011, he was still part of a defensive unit that let big leads slip away in all six of their regular season losses under former head coach Mike Sherman. The last two years have seen the Aggies finish last in the SEC in total defense.
Muschamp would take over a unit with low expectations but some impressive raw talent in the likes of defensive end Myles Garrett, who just broke Jadeveon Clowney’s SEC freshman sack record, and Daeshon Hall on the other side of the defensive line. It’s a unit that is improving but needs some fresh ideas and coaching which Muschamp could certainly bring, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he turned down the offers from South Carolina and Auburn in favour of Texas A&M.
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