SEC Media Days 2011: Will Muschamp, Welcome Freshman

Live coverage from Birmingham, where SB Nation is taking in the spectacle of SEC Media Days.

It takes Will Muschamp, freshly-hatched head football coach of the Florida Gators, approximately 35 seconds following his introductory sentences to begin talking faster than anybody in this room can ever hope to type. “It’s good to be back in the SEC. We’re all undefeated. No poor decisions yet on third down.” (This last, you will be relieved or disappointed to learn, did not appear to be delivered as a parting shot at Greg Davis.) Highlights from his remarks and Q&A session follow:

• Muschamp feels he got a good head start by being able to observe Florida’s bowl practices and see what was best working for Urban Meyer as he prepared the team. (So thanks, Texas, for going 5-7 in 2010, he thought but did not say.)

• “By design, we have close to 40 years of NFL experience on our staff.” Muschamp doesn’t want any “projections” coming out of his scheme, and wants his kids to be Sunday-ready from the get-go.

• Neiron Ball, diagnosed this offseason with a vascular condition that will prevent him from playing this season, will be reevaluated for football readiness in January or February of next year.

• Jeff Demps is currently running with the U.S. national track team in Italy, and “based on our conversations, he’ll be back” with the Gators this fall. One reporter attempts to press him on this, and is brutally rebuffed: “I don’t deal in rumors, and I don’t deal in message boards. I don’t know any good ballcoaches who do that.” Muschamp says he prefers to deal with his players face to face, and “I ain’t never been to Italy.” Between this and his careful noting of reporters who have lost weight over the summer and his working “the University of Florida” into every last sentence, it must be said, the SEC’s newest head coach is sort of crushing it here.

• On the “roster management” rampant in the SEC that’s so dominated recent headlines: “We don’t oversign, and we don’t grayshirt, and it hasn’t really affected our success.”

• More japery, on the cordial relationships between coaches in the SEC: “I wouldn’t say we all get along that well. You wanna beat your brother worse than anybody.” On how it feels being a Georgia guy coaching at Florida: “I’m a Florida guy,” without a second’s pause.

• A reporter, on the immediate pressure he’ll face: “An 8-5 record isn’t something that Gator Nation will tolerate.” Muschamp, again without missing a beat: “They’ve told me.”