Will Muschamp comes back to Georgia — as a Gator
Will Muschamp may have barked as a Bulldog but he's all Gator now as the Florida coach.
A young, pretty girl sitting near the front of the room had a question for the Florida coach.
“Coach, I’m getting married soon and he’s a Georgia fan and …”
“That’s not my fault,” Will Muschamp said, playing to the crowd.
“My wedding is on the same day as the Florida-Georgia game,” she continued. “I was wondering: Can you guarantee Florida will win?”
Muschamp, the native of Rome, a long-time Georgia resident and former Bulldogs safety, smiled.
“I certainly can,” he said (and then he turned in my direction and alerted the crowd that this pronouncement almost certainly would be used in the local newspaper).
This should end any lingering debate about whether Will Muschamp has divided loyalties.
The annual meeting of the Atlanta Gator Club was held Thursday night. Atlantic Station was crawling with reptiles. More than 360 Florida fans crammed into a hotel ballroom, the largest turnout in years, to greet their new leader.
Muschamp was in Georgia, but the Atlanta Gator Club would protect him.
This was the safe room for Muschamp. But outside the walls, he’s same guy who was branded “traitor” or “Benedict Arnold” by some hard-line Bulldogs fans who believe once you’ve worn the “G” on your helmet, any career movement – especially to the mother of SEC rivals – is borderline sacrilegious. (Or over the border.)
“I’m loyal to who signs my checks,” Muschamp said earlier. “All of that other stuff, I don’t get into. In our
You might've thought you were lost walking in Atlantic Station.
profession you’re loyal to the people you work for. I’ll do the best job I can for the Gator nation.”
Go easy, folks. The man’s gotta earn a living, you know.
It may have been a shock in Athens when Muschamp, the official coach-in-waiting at Texas for Mack Brown and a possible unofficial coach-in-waiting for Georgia, was tabbed as Urban Meyer’s replacement at Florida.
But it shouldn’t have been. Yes, he lived in Rome up until age 5, and then he returned before his ninth-grade year. But during that period in between, orange blood ran through blue veins. He walked to Gators games as a kid. He watched Wilber Marshall. Even when he went to high school in Rome, he was a Florida fan.
Fact is, Muschamp might never have stepped foot on the Georgia campus if he hadn’t broken his leg while playing in high school.
“All of the big schools backed off,” he said.
His choices: Enroll at West Point or try to walk-on at Florida or Georgia.
“My dad was a school teacher,” he said. “The [cost of] in-state education was a factor.”
So if he didn’t break his leg or his father was a surgeon, he would’ve attended Florida?
“Hah — I’d rather not play what-if,” he said.
Muschamp waited 15 years for a head coaching job. So far, he wears it well.
The fact he was one of the nation’s best defensive coaches at Texas, LSU and Auburn doesn’t guarantee success. Even he acknowledges that he’s in a honeymoon period with Gators fans. (“Everybody has been great. But we haven’t played a game yet.”).
But if he doesn’t succeed, it won’t be for a lack of confidence. He brought in Charlie Weis to run his offense. Most new head coaches would balk at such a move, believing the former Notre Dame coach and New England and Kansas City offensive coordinator might be scheming behind his back for the top job.
“I have confidence in myself. I want the people I hire to have tremendous confidence in themselves,” he said.
Last month, Muschamp kicked his best player, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, off the team after his third arrest (and second in three months for marijuana). It was a stunning move at a program that had its share of legal issues between SEC and BCS championships under Meyer.
“I didn’t look at it as sending a message early,” Muschamp said. “I look at everything as an isolated situation. Each player will have to [act] right.”
He has learning the hard way of the demands of being a head coach and fielding endless advice from fans (“My email works, I can tell you that.”). But this feels like Utopia.
After the questions, he planned on flying back to Austin, Texas. His family hasn’t moved yet and his 5-year-old is graduating from kindergarten Friday. Then it will be back to Gainesville.
“As coaches, we move around so much,” he said. “Home is where the house is.”
That’s not in Georgia anymore.
By Jeff Schultz
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477 comments Add your comment
Another Dumb Dawg
May 20th, 2011
2:49 pm
Better Dawgs – over the last 50 years, the Gators have a better overall winning percentage than the leghumpers. Sorry, it’s not just Tebow and Meyer. But if that little fairy tale will help you sleep better until late October brings its usual nightmares, more power to you!
Dawg Gone
May 20th, 2011
3:01 pm
Another Dumb Dawg face it nancy we still own the series record and you will NEVER catch us.
Another Dumb Dawg
May 20th, 2011
3:07 pm
Sure. Ya’ll were unstoppable during the FDR administration, but as someone pointed out, the series has been trending the Gator’s way for the past 60 years. Enjoy the series bragging rights while you can, because once you lose that distinction (and you will, it’s just a question of time), you won’t have anything left.
dog for life...but realistic
May 20th, 2011
3:08 pm
Could be its time for the tide to turn back in this series. We owned the Gators for 20 years, and they’ve owned us for 20. The bad news is they owned us with not only Spurrier and Meyer, who owned everybody, they owned us with…..Zook!
Show me the wins, keep the rhetoric.
mdr
May 20th, 2011
3:11 pm
I can’t wait til that arrogant d-bag falls flat on his face.
Buckeye
May 20th, 2011
3:12 pm
Better to get to and lose the NC than get to and lose the Liberty Bowl !
Love it when uga has to hang it’s hat on the SEC! SEC! coat rack because it can’t stand on it’s own record.
Since you are so into history, check these facts:
May 20th, 2011
3:13 pm
Dawg Gone,
The Hump Nation is worried because even the last loser coach the Gators had before Meyer owned the sun tanned preacher man. And by the way your all world QB has yet to beat a team with a winning record. That Gator team he lost to last year in Jax started 5 true Freshmen on D. The beatdown over the Humpers will continue as long as your Helen Hunt lookalike coach remains.
gdawginkalamazoo
May 20th, 2011
3:14 pm
In the first picture it appears that Muschamp is indeed wearing black.
In the second picture it appears that there is only ONE guy int the entire crowd dressed in a professional manner wearing a suit with a jacket.
In the third picture is that guy’s van.
Gator fan’s, God bless them.
Laughing at Humptown
May 20th, 2011
3:15 pm
Even the Zooker owned the head to head over the Suntanned Preacher. Prissy little Murray still has not won a game against a team with a winnning record because he might be a soph this year but he is still a midget.
Dirty Dawg
May 20th, 2011
3:15 pm
My point earlier is that Muschamp didn’t need to ‘dis’ Georgia in order to make his points at this gator-gathering…but he chose to anyway, so why should we care one way or another how soon he’ll get run off from down there…not at all.
By the way, the reason that that orange and blue van didn’t really draw much attention parked at Atlantic Station is that folks assumed that it was just another ‘pimp-mobile’.
cadawg
May 20th, 2011
3:16 pm
hell, i’d be tempted to guarantee it too. he’s got every reason in the world to be confident: 18 out of 21 is ugly. all we can say is: that’s why they play the game. i guess we’ll see how it turns out. HBTD!
Laughing at Humptown
May 20th, 2011
3:16 pm
gdawginkalamazoo
Guess you have been gone to long to forget all the rednecks with a Jawja on their shirts while wearing overalls.
Gator CHOMP Champ
May 20th, 2011
3:18 pm
Why the uproar? We can guarantee the win next year too. It’s about every 7th year that it gets sketchy. Enjoy losing again in JAX.
BYRDDAWG
May 20th, 2011
3:18 pm
Suckeye & his cute little sweater vest, I know why you hate us so……You don’t like watching UGA on tv licking his buckeyes!!!! LOL
BYRDDAWG
May 20th, 2011
3:18 pm
Tooooo funny all these gaytors out today…..it must be the Fri they get their unemployment checks and go to Walmart to get some new jean shorts on clearance!!!!! PUNKS
ga gator
May 20th, 2011
3:19 pm
Dont know why all the excitement, it was coach speak and all of them including Richt does that. I remember when he spoke to the Bulldawg club in Jacksonville after he was hired that he was going to change the tide back to the Dawgs. Talk is just that talk and it is done to excite the faithful.
Gator CHOMP Champ
May 20th, 2011
3:21 pm
Good points: we could beat you guys with Zook. I can’t imagine what Muschamp will do =)
mark
May 20th, 2011
3:24 pm
r dawg tormentor you are a moron. Murray never played a down of defense. So, he never beat anyone with a winning record…..but he is one hell of q.b. Brantley is a joke.
Dawg Gone
May 20th, 2011
3:26 pm
Another Dumb Dawg never going to happen homer never.
Buckeye
May 20th, 2011
3:27 pm
byrd dog,
Actually, I am a fan of the Uga tradition. Was sad to see the latest in the line die at such a young age. I also appreciate the Legend Larry Munson – another fine tradition. See, I’m not a complete jerk all the time.
Tech Sucks
May 20th, 2011
3:27 pm
UGA is going to kill UF this year.
DIT
May 20th, 2011
3:29 pm
OK, seriously I had to laugh at this. I bleed red & black, but let’s all admit one thing, it was not much of a stretch to say that UF is going to beat UGA. Going on the past 20 years, it’s a safe bet. I hope that changes, but until my Dawgs can put 2 wins ina row together the Gator people have every right to laugh at us.
This would be the same as CMR saying that we will beat tech this coming year. It’s a safe bet. 9 out of 10 times we do so it’s not that big of a gamble.
Plus, what else would Muschamp say to try and relax any doubts that he is on the gators side of the rivalry?
Buckeye
May 20th, 2011
3:30 pm
byrd dog,
Shame when you are on TV it’s usually the low def version of CSS.
You are rarely worthy of the national TV stage.
Buckeye
May 20th, 2011
3:30 pm
byrd dog,
Remind me, who carried the Liberty Bowl last year?
ga gator
May 20th, 2011
3:33 pm
Mark, Brantley was a joke running Tebow’s offense so the jury is out. I would say that running an offense suited for him and being coached up by Charlie Weis is a safe bet for improvement. Who would you rather have calling plays a two time super bowl champion coach or Bobo?
gdawginkalamazoo
May 20th, 2011
3:39 pm
Laughing at Humptown, no not at all, we got them wacky fans too. Everybody does. Otherwise it wouldn’t be any fun to point it out.
DIT
May 20th, 2011
3:39 pm
ga gator, I agree with you, however, Brantly is not your guy at QB. He will be replaced by mid season. I think his confidence is shot. Weiss’s offense is complex and will take more than a half year to fully grasp it. Florida will find a top notch QB to run that offense. they will have to depend on many of their athletes to win the games this year. They will still be tough.
I’m not feeling it for my dawgs this year. Too many questions on both sides of the ball. If we can pull off 9 wins I would be satisfied. To me that stinks because anything less than winning the SEC is not acceptable with the big time SEC programs. First 2 games will tell us everything.
Good luck to the gators this comng year
how2fish
May 20th, 2011
3:40 pm
ga gator good to see you around..I have a question and a statement.question didn’t Weis run that vaunted offense at ND? And my statement give us a good D and yes I’d rather have Bobo this isn’t the pro’s and if I remember correctly Bobo did a pretty good job with a decent D and David Greene at QB. And I agree about Brantley he really didn’t get a fair shot last year in that offense.
gdawginkalamazoo
May 20th, 2011
3:41 pm
You guys need to ease up on the Zooker. He took a terrible Illinois team and turned it into a mediocre Illinois team that competes year in and year out in the mediocre Big Ten. A conference that is about to be owned by the Cornhuskers.
how2fish
May 20th, 2011
3:44 pm
gdawginkalamazoo now that was funny…
Buckeye
May 20th, 2011
3:47 pm
What does Win With call the play when you drive the length of the (Liberty Bowl) field and are a yard from paydirt?
Oh ya.
Field Goal
WDE
May 20th, 2011
3:49 pm
Buckeye what do you call your record vs the SEC…….hmmmm oh yeah and before you whip out that old tried line about hanging our hat on the SEC..we are batting a thousand vs OSU.
Another Dumb Dawg
May 20th, 2011
3:50 pm
Dawg Gone – hide under the covers and keep chanting, never gonna happen, never gonna happen, never gonna happen just the way you chanted, just wait until Spurrier leaves, just wait until Spurrier leaves, just wait until Spurrier leavs, and just wait until Tebow graduates, just wait until Tebow graduates, just wait until Tebow graduates. The names change, but the results are remarkably consistent. Six more and counting..
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
May 20th, 2011
3:52 pm
Once again its good to see the Gaterd nation has hired a coach that takes the GA/FL game seriously
As a diehard UGA fan I can only wish our fans were that committed but instead we have fans that:
Are so happy to have 10 win seasons and do not care if FL beats the crap out of us every year
They just hope that FL and Tenn will lose out so they can have an opportunity to go to the SEC championship
50% of this fanbase including big boosters I know are the reason this program is going nowhere
KEEP DRINKING YOUR KOOL-AID WHILE ENJOYING SITTING AT HOME WATCHING FL PLAY FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Beast from the East
May 20th, 2011
3:53 pm
WDE,
I keep thinking you’re a Barner because of your handle but then I see you’re a Dawg. What gives?
UGA Rocks!
May 20th, 2011
3:53 pm
UGA will have the upper hand in this series moving forward.
Junk Yard is BACK!
Dawg Gone
May 20th, 2011
3:53 pm
Another Dumb Dawg ….lol you guys still have that inferiority complex working one of the reasons you’ll never catch us…..
ga gator
May 20th, 2011
3:54 pm
You too How2fish, I enjoy talking with most of the rational UGA fans (especially since I finally got married to one). Not sure about Brantley and if my memory serves me correct Richt called the plays for David Green. Charlie’s problem was not offense at ND, it was D. He produced two highly rated QB’s out of ND (Quinn and Clausen) and Tom Brady was a 6th round pick coming out of college and guess who his college QB coach was? Scott Loefler who was Brantleys after Dan Mullen left. Not predicting greatness for Brantley but all he has to do is manage it with the athletes he has around him. Next year’s QB will most likely be Jeff Driskell who was the top rated QB this year. I must say though that this is all fun. Cannot wait until Sept!!
Ty
May 20th, 2011
3:55 pm
Hey Buckeye,
I guess your motto is: If you can’t beat em, join em. So now your a Gator fan huh. I think you have enough to worry about with your school than to come on an SEC blog and run your mindless dribble. OSU is an after thought in the SEC. We all would be more interested in talking about GA. State than OSU.
Nice honest coach with lots of integrity you have there. Says a lot about the school, Alumni & fan base……………. Classless! Any answer you give now is just proving my point so please let’s hear it!
Beast from the East
May 20th, 2011
3:56 pm
Dawg Gone,
Inferiority?
You have us confused with Kentucky, Vandy and Tech.
Not even UCF feels inferior to UGA at this point!
Win something (anything) before you start with that, will ya?
Dawg Gone
May 20th, 2011
3:58 pm
@Beast from the East your comment this morning at 9:18 was a fair assessment of both teams I think…lots of questions for both teams…it will be a wild ride this season…as always.
Real Sports
May 20th, 2011
3:58 pm
360 Florida fans in one room??? That’s a lot of denim and bad hair dye.
At least the Fulton County vice unit could take it easy for a few hours.
ga gator
May 20th, 2011
3:59 pm
Real Sports I guess you haven’t visited a Walmart and witnessed 400 pound men and 200 pound women wearing UGA attire.
Beast from the East
May 20th, 2011
4:02 pm
You guys kill me with these jort deal. Walk into ANY WalMart in the state of Georgia and you will see more rednecks with jean shorts on wearing a dingy UGA shirt than you see shopping carts. I wish we could post pictures on here. I stopped in the one in Commerce late one night for some shaving cream when I was one the road and I got about 10 shots of some of the most ridiculous looking “Dawgs” you have ever seen. One woman weighs about 350 with jogging shorts, UGA shirt (no bra) and a pair of cowboy boots. Her “man” had on jorts, no shirt, work boots and was sporting a mullet. aThose oics are a total riot!
Yeah, white trash does not exist in the “sophisticated” state of Jawja.
Patrick Romano WAR DAMN EAGLE
May 20th, 2011
4:02 pm
JTFH, Loser my ass you dumbass, Won at UGA as a a player, Won at LSU as a coach, at Auburn (National Champs) as coach and will be up on his former team…
WAR DAMN EAGLE
Dawg Gone
May 20th, 2011
4:06 pm
Beast from the East sorry partner but all you have to do to completely wig out most Gator fans is bring up the series record. All you have to do is mention it and the venom goes up 100% . Its also a way to smoke out those “Dog” fans that are really wolves (or Gators,Tigers etc) Ya’ll have a great weekend and if the Rapture does happen well its been a real hoot!
Real Sports
May 20th, 2011
4:09 pm
No, ga gator. I don’t go to Walmart, there is only one that I can think about inside the perimeter. Please tell me more about this wonderful store in the backwoods part of Ga where you live.
I’ll bet you would like to see those 200 lb women in a nice pair of cut off jean shorts, wouldn’t you buddy?
UGA Rocks!
May 20th, 2011
4:11 pm
UF has many holes to fill on both sides of the ball. This will reflect on next seasons record. If we were talking about Stoopes UGA would have concern but with Muschump we have the upper hand for the time being. History always repeats itself and UGA is in great shape in the East right now. Truth hurts but you are not the power house you once where.
Thanks for letting Meyer go! IMO you should have been able to attract a bigger name with HC experience. FSU is back too. Good luck in recruiting. You guys are in serious trouble down there.
GATA!
Another Dumb Dawg
May 20th, 2011
4:13 pm
Dawg Gone, the only inferiority I’ve experienced with respect to UGA was the way I felt listening to UCF fans run their mouths about the SEC after your leghumpers laid an egg in the Liberty Bowl.
Beast from the East
May 20th, 2011
4:13 pm
Dawg Gone,
You have a great weekend, too!
I’m sure I’ll still be here on Monday, as I’ve heard it’s only the non-sinners that will be taken away tomorrow. I guess bad people like myself get an extra 5 months or so to see how mush more damage we can do…..LOL!