Will Muschamp watch: Florida coaching staff shakeup

Update, Dec. 26: It’s official.

“I’m excited to have Coach Roper join our staff,” Will Muschamp said in a statement. “He has a diverse, up-tempo background on offense and does a good job of adapting to what the players do best. The most important thing though is he has always remained balanced.

Florida’s dismissal of offensive coordinator Brent Pease may have an effect on some recruits, but five-star quarterback Will Grier is not one of them. Grier’s father gave a statement to Luke Stampini of 247sports, saying the Gator commit will not change his mind on his collegiate destination.

Grier, from Davidson Day (N.C.) High School, is considered the third-best pro-style prospect in the nation and the best player in the state, according to the 247sports composite. He also received offers from Auburn and Tennessee, among others, with interest from Clemson, Florida State, Oregon and USC.

For what it’s worth, embattled head coach Will Muschamp has received multiple, public assurances he’ll be back next year.

After two decades of Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer running the show in Gainesville, this brand of football was always going to be a difficult sell. But it was something that Gators’ fans were willing to tolerate as long as the wins kept coming in, as they did in 2012, when Florida finished 11-2 with an appearance in the Sugar Bowl.

Florida head coach Will Muschamp has received a vote of confidence from athletic director Jeremy Foley, according to Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post.

The last coach to stumble like this at Florida, Ron Zook, has been the most common comparison for Muschamp. The two have nearly identical records, but Foley was quick to dismiss that talk.

The Gators lost to Georgia Southern this past weekend, the school’s first ever loss to an FCS program. The loss also clinched a losing record for the program -- their first since 1979. With a game against No. 2 Florida State coming up, Florida is looking at a likely 4-8 record to close out the season.

Pease, formerly the offensive coordinator at Boise State, has struggled to get that Gators’ attack going in his two years with the program. Florida ranks dead last in the SEC in scoring offense, with 19.9 points per game, and total offense, with under 330 yards per contest. The Gators ranked 10th and 12th in the conference in those respective categories last season.

Florida’s first-ever loss to an FCS school and first losing season since 1979 may not be enough to get head coach Will Muschamp fired, as Muschamp will return in 2014, according to the Orlando Sentinel’s Edgar Thompson and Mike Bianchi.

The Sentinel reports significant changes are expected to be made to the staff, but Muschamp will not be one of them.

Last week: Lost 19-14 at South Carolina

Record: 4-6 (3-5 SEC)

Years: 3

Overall record: 22-14

School record: 22-14

Three-year record: 22-14

Salary: $2,928,000

Buyout: $8 million

Football ratio (percentage of the athletic department’s overall revenue derived from football): 58.9%

Subsidy (percentage of the athletic department’s budget that comes from John Q. Taxpayer): 3.5%

Dreaded vote of confidence? Yes.

Saturday’s loss to South Carolina has sent Florida to depths not seen since the Carter administration. It’s been 34 years since the Gators lost five in a row. It has been even longer since Florida has finished under .500 in the SEC twice in three seasons (1971 and 1973), as they now have under Muschamp. And Florida will have to beat No. 2 Florida State in the season finale to get six wins and a bowl trip. In other words, we are a mere 14 days from the nation’s second-longest bowl streak going up in smoke.

That pressure appears to be getting to head coach Will Muschamp, who apparently punched a chalkboard after the loss, injuring his hand.

Muschamp also called out the Florida fans after the game, who have been increasingly critical of his tenure as head coach, which seems to be plummeting towards a bowl-less season.