Will Muschamp is contacting potential assistant coaches to inform them he has accepted the head coaching job at South Carolina, according to a source. Earlier Saturday night, Sports Illustrated reported Muschamp is expected to be named the Gamecocks’ head coach.
Will Muschamp named South Carolina head coach
The Auburn defensive coordinator is in line to get another crack at a head coaching job in the SEC East.
John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
Update, Dec. 6: This is now official, South Carolina announced.
He’d take over for Steve Spurrier, another former Florida head coach (although their records in Gainesville are slightly different), who retired in the middle of the season after 10-plus seasons in Columbia. Friday, SB Nation reported Muschamp’s bid had Spurrier’s support.
The 44-year-old Muschamp is best known for his four-year head coaching tenure at Florida, after which he was fired with a 28-21 record.
Muschamp does have plenty of SEC experience. Not only has he served three stints at Auburn and coached Florida, but he came to prominence as defensive coordinator for Nick Saban at LSU from 2001 through 2004. Muschamp also ran Texas’ defense under Mack Brown and played safety for Georgia in the early 1990s.
Muschamp would look to hire current Auburn defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson as his defensive coordinator, though Maryland is also interested in Robinson.
Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez was also in the running. His athletic director tweeted Saturday night that South Carolina had offered Rodriguez the job, but didn’t receive a commitment. There have since been conflicting media reports about whether there was an offer.
At Florida, Muschamp inherited a roster recruited by Urban Meyer and took it to a Sugar Bowl appearance in his second season. One year later, Muschamp’s team went 4-8 and suffered through a seven-game losing streak to end the season.
His defenses remained among the best in the country, but his offenses struggled. He's planned to think differently of offense at South Carolina than he did at Florida, reportedly even considering an offense like current No. 1 Clemson's.
After Florida, Muschamp resurfaced as the defensive coordinator at Auburn, where he had started his career as a graduate assistant in 1995. Muschamp’s 2015 defense did not significantly improve on the team’s previous unit, ranking near the bottom of the SEC as the Tigers struggled to a 6-6 record.
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