Are the Gators rolling the dice with Muschamp?
Even when the regular season is over, it ain’t over. So what did we learn, and what do we still want to know?:
1. Are the Gators rolling the dice with Muschamp? Urban Meyer announced his “retirement” last Wednesday after six years as the head coach at Florida. In the next 48 hours everybody from Bob Stoops, to Jon Gruden (there is that name again), to Chris Peterson, to Dan Mullen to Chip Kelly was considered to be the front runner for one of the top five jobs in college football. Then suddenly, at 8:28 p.m. on Saturday (note the time) Florida announces that it had hired Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp as its next head coach. The press conference will be Tuesday. Some consider it a risk by athletics director Jeremy Foley, who got burned the last time he hired an assistant (Ron Zook). But those who know Muschamp know that he’s been groomed for this since he was a player at Georgia for Ray Goff. Muschamp has worked at LSU (for Nick Saban), at Auburn (for Tommy Tuberville), and Texas (for Mack Brown). He is ready.
2. Florida will win the SEC East in 2011: How ready is Muschamp? Well, here’s the first prediction for the 2011 season: Florida will win the SEC East championship. The problem at Florida last season was not talent. It was a lack of focus and a lack of leadership. The team was not focused because too many leaders had left and there was never a coherent offensive strategy. Muschamp can fix the leadership issue and if he hires a top-flight offensive coordinator the other problem can be fixed as well. Media reports say Muschamp is looking at Major Applewhite, an offensive assistant at Texas. My choice would be Dana Holgerson of Oklahoma State (who is in the running for the head coaching job at Pitt.)
3. I’m disappointed in the timing of Florida’s announcement: This is strictly an opinion, but I wish Florida had waited until after the Heisman Trophy presentation to announce its new coach. The official press release came just minutes before Auburn’s Cameron Newton was handed the hardware in New York. The announcement opens Florida up to charges that it was trying to step on the moment of a player from another SEC school. And with Newton’s background at Florida, which includes concerns that academic information about his time at the school was leaked to the media, it is something that simply should have been avoided. I was informed this morning by Florida officials that they had every intention of waiting until after the Heisman Trophy presentation but that once the news leaked out through the social media the school felt it had no choice but to release the information.
4. What does the hiring of Al Golden tell us about the Miami job? First of all, I think Golden is a great hire. Remember that it wasn’t long ago that Temple considered dropping football. The school basically got booted out of the Big East. Golden took over and he took the Owls to a bowl in 2009 and this season went 8-4 (which included a win over Fiesta Bowl bound UConn). But it also tells you that Miami’s job is not one where the school can go out and command the services of a Tier One proven head coach. Jon Gruden wasn’t coming. Neither was a successful head coach at the BCS level. Miami is a tough job because if you don’t win and win big, the people just don’t come. Again, I think Golden is a super coach. He has been named as a possible replacement for Joe Paterno at Penn State. He will win at Miami. I just think Mike Leach would have been a more inspired hire.
5. If he goes to Vandy, how will Gus Malzahn handle the BCS championship? It looks like Vanderbilt is Gus Malzhan’s job to turn down. So what does the Auburn offensive coordinator do if he accepts, which could happen as early as today (Monday)? I certainly believe he would coach Cameron Newton one last time in the BCS championship game with Oregon on Jan. 10. But I’ve seen other coordinators try to get ready for a BCS title game while attempting to build a staff and organize a program at another place. Mark Richt did it at Florida State after he took the Georgia job in 2000. Richt admits now that it was very difficult. The only person I have seen pull it off really well was Bo Pelini, who was the LSU defensive coordinator for the 2007 BCS championship game while organizing his new program at Nebraska.
Stay tuned.
Please follow me on Twitter:
“Barnhart and Durham:” We will break down all of the coaching news on today’s “Barnhart and Durham Show” on 790 The Zone. Among our guests will be UConn coach (and former Georgia Tech assistant) Randy Edsall, who is headed to the Fiesta Bowl. Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun will bring us the latest on Will Muschamp at Florida. Craig Barnes, a former reporter for the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, will bring us reaction to the hiring of Al Golden at Miami. Please join the fun which starts at 10 a.m. www.790thezone.com.
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697 comments Add your comment
MURPHY
December 13th, 2010
10:25 am
JB,
I hope Richt can turn it around but im skeptical-VERY! If he goes,I want Mullen. I just dont have confidence he can fix this mess.Its a big mess!
BAMA dude
December 13th, 2010
10:25 am
Arch Dawg
December 13th, 2010
10:23 am
Vandy has a huge endowment
Anyone?
MURPHY
December 13th, 2010
10:26 am
JB,
Tuberville is looking old and I do think the times have past him.
DawginLex
December 13th, 2010
10:26 am
Maybe Muschamp will hire Bobo as his OC…………………………
ronald
December 13th, 2010
10:26 am
wow and you can already pick florida to win the east next year! Maybe you should review your top 25 for this year. Wrong!
James
December 13th, 2010
10:27 am
Bama….
That’s pretty dang funny.
High Times Tider
December 13th, 2010
10:27 am
Amazing, Tony. You’re going to reprimand Florida for a suspect, but largely inconsequential announcement, but refuse to say what you really believe regarding Newton. The kid is dirty, and EVERYBODY but blind-loyalist AU fans know it. Instead, you and every other one of your ilk has been hiding behind the NCAA’s by-the-book decision. You could use your forum as something other than a paint-by-numbers template, you know.
MURPHY
December 13th, 2010
10:28 am
JB,
Mettenberg should shine at LSU.Can Les give him good coaching?
BAMA dude
December 13th, 2010
10:28 am
JB, don’t you think Lee or Jefferson would light up the juco kids too? They have talent but make bad mistakes and there’s no way to know if Mett will be any different. It could be the coaches’ inability to prepare them for the opponents’ schemes more than anything they do. They were both four star QBs coming in.
MURPHY
December 13th, 2010
10:29 am
DawginLex,
That would be our luck.Bobo goes to UF and wins a National Championship!
#2&
December 13th, 2010
10:29 am
integrity.Can we please just tear that part out of the Heisman award.Even if all of this msu/au/daddy stuff never proves to be true.It sure was NOT his daddy that did those things at UF.I will never,EVER see this guy in the same light as other Heisman winners,Bo,Walker,Tebow,ext….
JB
December 13th, 2010
10:30 am
Reading the Florida blogs this weekend, there was a lot of “talk” about some recruiting baggage Mullen might be carrying. Maybe they are just playing down one of their TOP wish list guys. Mullen sure did have MSU playing Physical this year, something we haven’t seen in Athens since 2007.
News Article: Latest Bama News 12/13/10
December 13th, 2010
10:31 am
[...] Latest Bama News 12/13/10 Are the Gators rolling the dice with Muschamp? Are the Gators rolling the dice with Muschamp? | Mr. College Football Reply With Quote + Reply to Thread « Previous Thread | Next [...]
JB
December 13th, 2010
10:34 am
If the time comes, I’m sure Foley will tell his friend McGarity why he “passed” on Mullen. There had to be a reason.
CF Gator
December 13th, 2010
10:35 am
Never heard much buzz coming out of Gville about Mullen during this process. I think it is due to (i) Mullen is not known as a good recruiter, and recruiting is critical to Foley: (ii) Foley not being sold on continuing to run the spread; and (iii) two years and 13-11 at MSU don’t exactly make Mullen a veteran head coach.
UGADawg83
December 13th, 2010
10:36 am
I still remember the player Will Muschamp. I’m not worried.
KR
December 13th, 2010
10:37 am
1. Yep. It’s always a roll of the dice when you move a coordinator up to the head coach position. However, Texas publicly showed they were willing to move him up someday.
2. Not so fast my friend. It’s a little early to be making those predictions.
3. Whatever. It really doesn’t matter to me. I wasn’t watching the Heisman Trophy ceremony, so I had to rely on internet forums to let me know the timing of the Muschamp announcement.
4. Miami got the best coach they could for the money they were offering.
5. Malzahn wants to be a head coach. Vanderbilt is apparently offering him that opportunity at close to 10x his current salary. Vandy fans are more forgiving than other fans in the SEC. Seems like a no-brainer.
He’ll probably coach in the BCS Championship Game; which will give him some additional big game experience to talk about while recruiting.
RxDawg
December 13th, 2010
10:37 am
“Malzahn would be wise to strike while his iron is hot”
DITTO
William C Smith
December 13th, 2010
10:38 am
Everyone on this board got there first job with no experience. It all depends on the work ethic of the person hired. Will’s job performance will be determined on the field not by our love or hatred of Florida. Not to compare but years ago a Packer franchise in decline hired a little known offensive co-ordinator from the New York Giants. His name was Vince Lombardi.
JB
December 13th, 2010
10:38 am
CF, then with that line of thinking, Muschamp is a gamble……But really, All head coach’s were assit. Coach’s at one time. Muschamp will not let the Gators come out of the tunnel sleep walking, that I know.
Gatorrock
December 13th, 2010
10:38 am
Bama Dude the UGA/SC game was a hell of lot closer than the SC/Auburn game tied until just a few mins left in the 4th if I remember correctly..
Sleeper Service
December 13th, 2010
10:42 am
I am amazed that people who use profane puns as a user name expect to be taken seriously. I’m also amazed that at 6-6 UGA still draws so many hate mongers. Personally, I think Muschamp will do a great job anywhere he goes and that includes UF.
SECWasteManagement
December 13th, 2010
10:42 am
Muschamp to hire Charlie Pell as his OC at Florida.
JB
December 13th, 2010
10:42 am
Muschamp is walking into a roster loaded with 4 and 5 star players. It’s his to do wonders with. No excuses like Dooley at Tenn who walked into a train wreck.
Beast from the East
December 13th, 2010
10:44 am
Very excited about the hiring of Muschamp! He’ll have some growing pains, as all new head coaches do, but he’ll be a tireless recruiter that can possibly open some in-roads into Texas and Georgia. He’ll bring a youthful enthusiasm to a prgoram that hasn’t had alot of fun the past 2 years.
Foley is the man!
Go Gators!
Gatorrock
December 13th, 2010
10:44 am
JB agreed his cupboard is loaded..still I think Meyer showed us how important a couple of great coordinators can be to a program…
BAMA dude
December 13th, 2010
10:44 am
Gatorrock
December 13th, 2010
10:38 am
Bama Dude the UGA/SC game was a hell of lot closer than the SC/Auburn game tied until just a few mins left in the 4th if I remember correctly.
Which Barn game? The one at home that they had to come from behind to win or the one that they won going away after a Hail Mary and a stupid play by Garcia opened the floodgates?
DIT
December 13th, 2010
10:44 am
JB,
I would have to say that CMR must win a minimal 9 games next year to stick around. I hope he does it, but I feel he will have a high bar to hit next year. Yes, if not, get MULLEN!
I’m still shocked that UF did not go after Mullen? There just has to be something behind the scenes for them to move so fast. Lets face it, UF could have gotten any coach they wanted. I guess I just question how fast they moved on it. Maybe to keep the current recruits? CWM I don’t think will be bad HC. He has been around long enough to get things going. It will be interesting!
zig
December 13th, 2010
10:44 am
This works out great for Richt and UGA. Muschamp is overrated and clearly couldn’t handle his duties this year is a very down and weak Big 12. UF f-ed up
ClinchPanther
December 13th, 2010
10:45 am
Stop your complaining about and worrying about who is coaching at florida. you all act like UGA is second class and UGA’s success depends on everything that florida does. Get done with it and get it out of the AJC!!!
including tony and you posters.
ga gator
December 13th, 2010
10:47 am
JB, good post; but I like the hire. As bad as Texas was this year, his D was still 7th ranked. Florida’s problem this year was they were young on D (sometimes with 5 true freshmen on the field) and they had an Offensive Coordinator and HC who insisted that the Spread was the correct offense even though Superman was gone. I bet Johnny Brantley is jumping for joy. I had heard 2 weeks ago he was going to transfer to Delaware (D2) to play under Flacco’s old coach his Senior year.
Beast from the East
December 13th, 2010
10:48 am
I would assume this was the move that Foley was considering last year when Urban “retired” for 24 hours. He moved very quickly and had a coach named within 72 hours. There’s no way he had time to make offers to others as many posters have insinuated. I believe Foley when he says that this was his first choice. It couldn’t have gone down that quickly, otherwise.
ga gator
December 13th, 2010
10:49 am
zig, funny all of the Dawg fans suddenly think he is not qualified when the last 2 years, those who were clammering for Richts head mentioned him as the HC. I guess if he was good enough to be Texas next HC in waiting and now UF’s it means that he is not qualifed. You guys crack me up.
CF Gator
December 13th, 2010
10:49 am
I agree, JB. It is a gamble, no way around it. But Foley is thinking long term, and I don’t think that 2 years of experience at MSU is significant enough to make a difference if he believed that Muschamp is the better long term hire.
UGA Insider
December 13th, 2010
10:56 am
Cam Newton cost Dan Mullen a job at UF. Foley wanted a clean break from the fiasco and Mullen would have prolonged the controversy. Dan Mullen just had too much baggage and it was time for UF to move on to an entirely new staff. My question is UF Insiders is: Why is CUM going to coach in the bowl game and why is he still going to have an office in the UF athletic department? I have known Will Muschamp since we were frat brothers together at UGA and there is no way he wants Urban anywhere near that campus. I see problems on the horizon with this.
Exley DAWG
December 13th, 2010
10:59 am
Sillly to make predictions for 2011 already. You don’t even know who the OC is yet.
Beast from the East
December 13th, 2010
11:01 am
I agree that it is WAY too early to be making any predictions about 2011. We don’t even know what the rosters are going to look like yet. I think Tony just wanted to be the first one to make a prediction. Well, I predict Vandy will win the East. There, I was the first (and only) one to make that prediction….LOL!
Hot Reads
December 13th, 2010
11:03 am
[...] the N.Y. Times’ Pete Thames questioned Florida’s hiring of Will Muschamp. Today, the Atlanta Constitution-Journal’s Tony Barnhart raises the same question. The hiring does make for some interesting debate. … You [...]
Notthisyear
December 13th, 2010
11:06 am
Mullen was never the target for the Gators!!! is this really that hard to understand? If everyone else wants him? Fine,Go get him.Our AD gave you a hint at what we were going after last week and we got him.And please stop about how bad the Texas D was this year.How many times did that god awful O turn the ball over for their D to pick up the slack?
JB
December 13th, 2010
11:06 am
The culture in Athens has to change for us to beat “name” SEC schools again. Can Mark do it? I don’t know if it’s in his DNA. The Current DC for THE BEST TEAM IN THE NFC, who used to be our DC, is REALLY missed in ATHENS.I don’t think Mark has forgotten how to coach. I think a combination of poor Coordinators and a drop in talent since 2007 has done him in, and the conference has gotten better. I think it’s that simple.
Beast from the East
December 13th, 2010
11:08 am
JB,
Agreed concerning Richt. I hope he can turn it around. Too much turnover in coaching these days.
SEC_Analyst
December 13th, 2010
11:12 am
@UGA Insider
The situation with UM remaining in Gainesville is strange, to say the least. It reminds me of what Auburn did with Pat Dye after he got into trouble with Eric Ramsey. Dye has been the shadow HC at Auburn ever since. There’s no way I’d take that job with Meyer having an office next door to mine.
As for Tubby announcing that he “has no interest” in the Miami job, he played that one to death while he was at Auburn. Every time a major HC job opened he held a press conference to announce that he wasn’t interested — as if he had actually been offered the job.
David Granger
December 13th, 2010
11:13 am
I think Muschamp will be a fine head coach. Wish we had him here at UGA.
I’d hate to see Malzahn at Vandy. I do think he’d be a good head coach, but don’t think he’ll have the resources there to be real competitive…especially in the SEC. Sure can’t blame anyone for taking a $3 million a year contract, though, and I wish him luck if he does so.
JB
December 13th, 2010
11:14 am
Tubbs is lost in Texas….Those kids ask ‘Who’ when he visits……
CF Gator
December 13th, 2010
11:15 am
Two national titles later, it’s easy to forget that Urban Meyer wasn’t a risk-free hire. Yes, he’d been a head coach….for 4 years at Bowling Green and Utah (before Utah became a BCS-caliber program) and he ran a “gimmicky” offense that many said could never work in the SEC.
murfdawg
December 13th, 2010
11:16 am
I wonder if Jimbo Fisher and the FSU fans are scared to death that fl hired Muschamp?
The U hired someone who wears a tie to the games on Saturday. That is scary.
Looks like FSU will be back in full force. Was it a coincident that FSU lost Richt and White Sunglases and started a decline to mediocrity? Gators lose Mullen and Strong and struggle. The difference in the two programs is Bowden had the Intestinal fortitude to stay and correct the problems. UM ran hame and cried with tebag.
However, one bright spot for the gators, they own the dawgs. 7-5 and a win over UGA is going to be about the best fl will do for the next few years.
JB
December 13th, 2010
11:16 am
Malzahn to Vandy for 3mil……………Hello lotto…………He was making 40K 3 years ago coaching HS ball……….Pamla Anderson couldn’t get a bigger smile on his face
Notthisyear
December 13th, 2010
11:19 am
UM3 may be staying in Gainesville and close to Shands for a reason.
LHardingDawg
December 13th, 2010
11:19 am
I don’t believe Florida wanted the baggage Mullins was going to bring with him. They, Florida, finally have cut the ties with Cam and possibly any investigation that might include Cam, Mullins, and Mrs. Mulling. I’ve heard that Mrs. Mullins was the person Cam told about the “money is too good at Auburn”. I believe it was a good hire and wish Will the best of luck in all his games except one.
dawgfacedboy
December 13th, 2010
11:19 am
He’s an unproven HC so yeah, I would say it’s a risk. Will he be successful? It would take a hell of an effort to NOT be successful at Florida nowadays. They are oozing with talent.