HOOVER, Ala. - Thanks to truckloads of TV money annually being dumped
on major conferences, college football is increasingly a ridiculously
fickle business, especially in the SEC.
If you're hired as a head football coach in this league, you normally sign a five-year deal.
Translated: Improvement is expected each season for the first three
years with no missteps. If not, you must have something useable for
leverage to squeeze out one more season to prove yourself.
HOOVER, Ala. - Thanks to truckloads of TV money annually being dumped
on major conferences, college football is increasingly a ridiculously
fickle business, especially in the SEC.
If you're hired as a head football coach in this league, you normally sign a five-year deal.
Translated: Improvement is expected each season for the first three
years with no missteps. If not, you must have something useable for
leverage to squeeze out one more season to prove yourself.
It could be you're an alum, like Mike Shula. The former Alabama
quarterback somehow lasted four seasons guiding the Tide from 2003-06,
but his 'Bama diploma finally didn't mean squat when he had only one
winning season.
It could be you win a national championship in your second season,
like Gene Chizik did at Auburn in 2010. But when you go 4-12 in SEC play
the next two years, you suddenly have plenty of time to polish that
national title bling.
It could be you're great with the media, personable and glib, as well
as being the son of a coaching legend, as was Derek Dooley in three
seasons at Tennessee through 2012. But when you're 2-14 in the SEC in
your last two seasons with losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt, you
quietly find an escape hatch to become an NFL assistant.
Now there's the case of current Florida coach
Will Muschamp, who went from 11-2 two years ago in his second season to
4-8 last year, including 3-5 in the SEC and unimaginable home loss to
Georgia Southern.
It could be you're an alum, like Mike Shula. The former Alabama
quarterback somehow lasted four seasons guiding the Tide from 2003-06,
but his 'Bama diploma finally didn't mean squat when he had only one
winning season.
It could be you win a national championship in your second season,
like Gene Chizik did at Auburn in 2010. But when you go 4-12 in SEC play
the next two years, you suddenly have plenty of time to polish that
national title bling.
It could be you're great with the media, personable and glib, as well
as being the son of a coaching legend, as was Derek Dooley in three
seasons at Tennessee through 2012. But when you're 2-14 in the SEC in
your last two seasons with losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt, you
quietly find an escape hatch to become an NFL assistant.
Now there's the case of current Florida coach
Will Muschamp, who went from 11-2 two years ago in his second season to
4-8 last year, including 3-5 in the SEC and unimaginable home loss to
Georgia Southern.
But because the Gators sustained 16 season-ending injuries (10 by
starters), including losing top offensive weapons quarterback Jeff
Driskel and wide receiver Andre Debose, Muschamp was given a pass to
return for season four.
So when he stepped to the microphone on Monday at SEC football media
days, he did so with a dubious honor. According to coacheshotseat.com,
he's the coach on the hottest seat in college football.
Muschamp should have stopped, dropped and rolled to the podium to address the print media.
"You combat the hot seat talk by having a good team and winning
games," said Muschamp, who was defensive coordinator for LSU's 2003
national championship team. "You can control only the things you can
control, although I haven't always practiced it.
But because the Gators sustained 16 season-ending injuries (10 by
starters), including losing top offensive weapons quarterback Jeff
Driskel and wide receiver Andre Debose, Muschamp was given a pass to
return for season four.
So when he stepped to the microphone on Monday at SEC football media
days, he did so with a dubious honor. According to coacheshotseat.com,
he's the coach on the hottest seat in college football.
Muschamp should have stopped, dropped and rolled to the podium to address the print media.
"You combat the hot seat talk by having a good team and winning
games," said Muschamp, who was defensive coordinator for LSU's 2003
national championship team. "You can control only the things you can
control, although I haven't always practiced it.
"There was never anytime in my mind that I didn't think I wouldn't be
retained. That's the great thing about having an athletic director like
Jeremy Foley, who has a very strong pulse not just on our program but
on every program in the athletic department.
"At the end of the day, he understood some of the circumstances we
dealt with, and we're looking forward to amending it this year."
The Gators' mounting injuries reached the ridiculous stage last
season when Florida trainer Paul Silvestri knocked on the defensive
staff room door one Tuesday night at 9:30. Muschamp answered.
Silvestri tells him that starting offensive lineman Tyler Moore
wrecked his scooter on rain-slick pavement after practice, with Moore
sustaining a broken elbow that would sideline him the rest of the
season.
"I can't tell you exactly what I said, but it wasn't good," Muschamp
said. "That was at a point where, you know, I asked him, 'You got to be
kidding?' It was just very frustrating."
Foley, who rarely hesitates to fire a coach in any sport if he thinks
the record over time isn't up to snuff, knew the roll call of
season-ending injuries was justification to keep Muschamp.
And so did the Florida players, like junior All-SEC defensive end Dante Fowler.
"Some players took it (the criticism) personally, because Coach
Muschamp is like our second dad," Fowler said. "We know what great a man
he is. You don't want to hear all that. We've got his back just like he
has our back."
If that's true, it's already a huge culture change from last season.
"There was never anytime in my mind that I didn't think I wouldn't be
retained. That's the great thing about having an athletic director like
Jeremy Foley, who has a very strong pulse not just on our program but
on every program in the athletic department.
"At the end of the day, he understood some of the circumstances we
dealt with, and we're looking forward to amending it this year."
The Gators' mounting injuries reached the ridiculous stage last
season when Florida trainer Paul Silvestri knocked on the defensive
staff room door one Tuesday night at 9:30. Muschamp answered.
Silvestri tells him that starting offensive lineman Tyler Moore
wrecked his scooter on rain-slick pavement after practice, with Moore
sustaining a broken elbow that would sideline him the rest of the
season.
"I can't tell you exactly what I said, but it wasn't good," Muschamp
said. "That was at a point where, you know, I asked him, 'You got to be
kidding?' It was just very frustrating."
Foley, who rarely hesitates to fire a coach in any sport if he thinks
the record over time isn't up to snuff, knew the roll call of
season-ending injuries was justification to keep Muschamp.
And so did the Florida players, like junior All-SEC defensive end Dante Fowler.
"Some players took it (the criticism) personally, because Coach
Muschamp is like our second dad," Fowler said. "We know what great a man
he is. You don't want to hear all that. We've got his back just like he
has our back."
If that's true, it's already a huge culture change from last season.
Former Florida center Jonotthan Harrison, one of the Gators' team captains a year ago, told a Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal writer this past April prior to the NFL draft that things turned into "complete chaos" in the program as the losses mounted.
There was an abundance of fingerpointing behind closed doors in the
locker room. Harrison said he lectured underclassmen to stop partying
before games.
Muschamp believes winning will solve any questions about his job
security, but there are Florida boosters with fat checkbooks who may not
agree.
After being spoiled for years watching explosive Florida offenses
devised by national championship winning coaches Steve Spurrier and
Urban Meyer - six of the top 10 scoring offenses in SEC history were
coached by that duo - Gators' fans demand think scoring in the 20s and
30s is for sissies.
Not only that, they want an entertaining offense. It's why Florida
finishing last in the league in scoring offense and total offense last
season was embarrassing, injuries or no injuries.
Muschamp, trying to surpass former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville's
SEC record for most offensive coordinators hired in a career, hired his
third OC in four seasons just before last Christmas. He chose Duke
offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, a protégé of Duke and former Ole Miss
coach David Cutcliffe.
Supposedly, the simple wrinkle in spring practice of Roper putting
Driskel in a shotgun formation rather than under center is the magic
fairy dust that will restore the Gators' offensive mojo.
But even if Florida goes 8-4 or 9-3 while failing to short-circuit
scoreboards, it's possible Foley could no longer hold off key money
boosters who want Muschamp to hit the bricks.
Such is the here today, gone tomorrow coaching life in the $EC where money is always the loudest voice in the room.
Former Florida center Jonotthan Harrison, one of the Gators' team captains a year ago, told a Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal writer this past April prior to the NFL draft that things turned into "complete chaos" in the program as the losses mounted.
There was an abundance of fingerpointing behind closed doors in the
locker room. Harrison said he lectured underclassmen to stop partying
before games.
Muschamp believes winning will solve any questions about his job
security, but there are Florida boosters with fat checkbooks who may not
agree.
After being spoiled for years watching explosive Florida offenses
devised by national championship winning coaches Steve Spurrier and
Urban Meyer - six of the top 10 scoring offenses in SEC history were
coached by that duo - Gators' fans demand think scoring in the 20s and
30s is for sissies.
Not only that, they want an entertaining offense. It's why Florida
finishing last in the league in scoring offense and total offense last
season was embarrassing, injuries or no injuries.
Muschamp, trying to surpass former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville's
SEC record for most offensive coordinators hired in a career, hired his
third OC in four seasons just before last Christmas. He chose Duke
offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, a protégé of Duke and former Ole Miss
coach David Cutcliffe.
Supposedly, the simple wrinkle in spring practice of Roper putting
Driskel in a shotgun formation rather than under center is the magic
fairy dust that will restore the Gators' offensive mojo.
But even if Florida goes 8-4 or 9-3 while failing to short-circuit
scoreboards, it's possible Foley could no longer hold off key money
boosters who want Muschamp to hit the bricks.
Such is the here today, gone tomorrow coaching life in the $EC where money is always the loudest voice in the room.
It was what Muschamp said on SEC media days.Muschamp will have a good team this year.I heard a lot of good things about Muschamp while he was at Auburn.I thought Weiss was a good hire his 1st yr as off coord but then Will had to see Weiss take a job @Kansas on TV.Weiss didn't even tell Will .Although not much to work with Weiss didn't pan out neither did Muschamp's 2nd off coord.Got a feeling the 3rd one will.I don't think I've ever seen a team hit with injury bug and bad luck like Fla and I dislike them more than any team in CFB.
It was what Muschamp said on SEC media days.Muschamp will have a good team this year.I heard a lot of good things about Muschamp while he was at Auburn.I thought Weiss was a good hire his 1st yr as off coord but then Will had to see Weiss take a job @Kansas on TV.Weiss didn't even tell Will .Although not much to work with Weiss didn't pan out neither did Muschamp's 2nd off coord.Got a feeling the 3rd one will.I don't think I've ever seen a team hit with injury bug and bad luck like Fla and I dislike them more than any team in CFB.
Muschamp is not in trouble. This is Florida's turn around year, and unless they have the horrible injuries of last season, this team is not about to become demoralized and play as poorly as last year.
Muschamp is not in trouble. This is Florida's turn around year, and unless they have the horrible injuries of last season, this team is not about to become demoralized and play as poorly as last year.
The magic number I'm hearing in Gainesville is 8/wins.I know Foley is a great AD & realize they had tons of injuries, but whatever way u sugar coat it there is no excuse for them to lose to Ga Southern.Although they weren't as bad as 2012 Auburn edition they were about equally uninspired .On flip side, I think the Gators are in for a great season.
The magic number I'm hearing in Gainesville is 8/wins.I know Foley is a great AD & realize they had tons of injuries, but whatever way u sugar coat it there is no excuse for them to lose to Ga Southern.Although they weren't as bad as 2012 Auburn edition they were about equally uninspired .On flip side, I think the Gators are in for a great season.
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