Will Muschamp’s UGA buddies conflicted about ‘that Florida thing’
Will Muschamp (30) started at safety for the Bulldogs in 1994 and was named defensive co-captain that season. (UGA photo)
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — “Wherever I played has no bearing on this game at all.”
“There will be a lot of wasted ink on the fact that I played at Georgia and I’m now coaching at Florida.”
“I don’t mean any disrespect to anyone, but I’m loyal to people, not places.”
This is what we’ve heard Will Muschamp, the Florida Gators’ first-year head coach, say this week about his ties to Georgia. Those ties are pretty strong, as most folks can tell you. Raised in Rome and married to a girl from Thomaston, he played football and earned his degree in communications from the University of Georgia.
But Muschamp has downplayed those connections at every turn, understandable considering his current address. Instead he tells the Gator Nation that he really wanted to play football at Florida, having spent the early part of his childhood growing up in the city in which that university resides. Circumstances were such that, after breaking his leg playing baseball, only Georgia would give him the opportunity to play big-time college football. So he went there instead.
And that may well be the truth. But Muschamp also forged some lifelong relationships during those four years in Athens and his latest move in a whirlwind coaching career has left them in a conflicted state.
Whit Marshall, who played linebacker for the Bulldogs with Muschamp, was probably his closest friend while the two were in college. As it turns out, Muschamp also chose to marry Marshall’s first cousin, the former Carol Davis.
“I’ve been good friends with him for a long time,” said Marshall, who works in real estate and is raising four kids in Atlanta. “But it’s been funny seeing my in-laws become Gator fans. They were Georgia fans. Two my cousins went to Georgia, but now that Will’s the head coach they’re all big Gator fans.”
Muschamp also roomed with quarterback Eric Zeier all four years they lived in Athens. Zeier, one of Georgia’s most beloved players, is color analyst for the Bulldog Radio Network. Seeing one of his best buddies dressed in orange and blue and leading the Gators’ onto the field is something Zeier is still trying to get used to.
“For the record I called him up on day one and firmly announced that he was a traitor,” said Zeier, an executive with Bank of America. “But the serious answer is, as players and teammates, the minute you go into coaching your loyalty lies with the team that you’re on and with the players that you’re leading every day and you recruit to come to your school. We all realize that.”
Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and Muschamp have remained close in the years since they were at UGA. They used to talk almost weekly – that is, until Muschamp landed in Gainesville.
“We haven’t talked, except when he first got the job,” Bobo said. “Georgia-Florida’s a little different.”
Coaching a former rival against your alma mater is not unusual in the business. Auburn grad Vince Dooley led the Bulldogs for 25 years and Georgia grad Pat Dye coached Auburn during some of its most successful years. In each case, they downplayed their school ties when it came to the games.
“That’s the way you’ve gotta approach it, or try to approach it,” Bobo said. “Especially the magnitude of what fans think of the Georgia-Florida game.”
The fact of the matter is, as defensive coordinator at LSU and Auburn, Muschamp has coached against Georgia five times already. He’s 2-3 in those games.
Some have wondered if Muschamp’s presence in Gainesville has in anyway softened the rivalry between the two schools. On the contrary.
“Just the way this game has played out over the years, this game is as big as it gets for Georgia,” Zeier said. “It’s one that we want to win because we haven’t had success lately. The fact that Will is the coach heightens that to some degree and from a fan perspective it should. That’s what makes college football in the South so great.”
Meanwhile, no one buys Muschamp’s “it’s no different than any other game” spiel.
“It’s definitely one that means a lot to him just simply from the fact that he went to Georgia,” Marshall said. “But the reality is he’s been to so many different schools since then, it’s probably as not as big as if it’d had been a couple of years after he finished at Georgia. But I know deep down inside it means something to him, for sure.”
The whole thing is more than a little aggravating for Marshall, who said he always hoped Muschamp would remain at Texas, where he was “head coach in waiting” before taking the Florida job. Nevertheless, Marshall makes it clear that he “bleeds red and black.”
“It makes it tough, for sure,” Marshall said. “I’m always pulling for Will, but it’s hard to pull for him in this game. I have to pull for Georgia.”
|– Chip Towers
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249 comments Add your comment
Robert
October 28th, 2011
1:43 pm
Eric Zeier was a fine qb and a damn good dog, but if he works for Bank of America, he’s a traitor. To this country.
GATA
October 28th, 2011
1:43 pm
“But it’s been funny seeing my in-laws become Gator fans. They were Georgia fans. Two my cousins went to Georgia, but now that Will’s the head coach they’re all big Gator fans.”
If you switch to the Gators you were NEVER a legit Dawg fan in the first place.
Muschamp bends over backwards to let everyone know he has no loyalties to UGA and it doesn’t matter that he played there. Muschamp is officially disowned from Dawg Nation. Here’s hoping UGA lays a nice, swift a$$ kicking on the gators in humiliating fashion.
T.
October 28th, 2011
1:43 pm
Dawgs lose – CMR gone
Maybe so,I’m ready for a change, but I ain’t hoping
the Dawgs lose to Fla. just so it will hasten Richt’s departure.
DIT
October 28th, 2011
1:50 pm
What do you guys want him to say. Of course he will lead to being a loyal Gator. Stop making such a big deal over it and calling him a traitor. If he said nice things about UGA during the GA/FL week the UF fans & alum would be looking to hang him.
He is getting paid a nice sum of money to coach at UF. His loyalties should be with UF.
I’m by no means a gator fan. My background in college was baseball. If I pursued a coaching job and UF hired me I would be totally loyal to the gators. They are my employer and they took a chance on me.
Too many of you sound like a bunch of “num-nuts” on here bashing CWM.
If the Dawgs can pull it off there will be no Dawg people even caring about him.
BobDawg
October 28th, 2011
1:52 pm
Hopefully this coaching change for UF will cause a curse for them.. Mushamp will be a DGD if UF loses to the Dawgs each year!
Beast from the East
October 28th, 2011
1:52 pm
DIT,
Some folks can’t see through their red and black glasses. We’ve got plenty on ‘em wearing orange and blue, too.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 28th, 2011
1:53 pm
Give me a break with this Muschump hatred
Everyone of you hippocrites would have done the same thing if someone offered you 3 times your salary
So shut your mouths about loyalty
DIT
October 28th, 2011
1:56 pm
I don’t know Beast, it just seems like common sense to me.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 28th, 2011
1:56 pm
By the way where is all the hatred for Greg McGarity
Didnt he work for the Ga-terds for 20 yrs
You Bunch of Idiots
Friends ........... really, that matters?
October 28th, 2011
1:56 pm
My entire Dad’s side of my family, including my dad, are Florida Gators. Most of them, now aging in their 80s-90s and passing on, recall that ” UGA has historically owned us but not lately ( 20 yrs) not so much.” True, older Gators beyond say 45 yrs old know that UGA has controlled it over the long haul and that we Dogs are due for a win.
I had a cousin that played LB with the Gators on a couple of Spurrier led teams in mid 60s. We whupped them once or twice or three times, in that four year or five year span. I am a UGA grad and is my older sister and she was born in Jax at St Joe’s Hospital.
I will be very ill as usual, if we lose. Losing to UT and AU and LSU and GT, then SC or if ever to Clemson, THAT is bad enough. Losing to family is horrific.
Gators for me are family that need a whuppin.
Friends? Nope, we are a tight family and I pull hard for my Dogs knowing that my Dad would be pulling HARD for his Gators.
UGA class of 71 & 73
Beast from the East
October 28th, 2011
1:59 pm
DIT,
That’s why they say common sense is not so common these days.
We can clear up two issues right here today
October 28th, 2011
2:05 pm
1.) If my son were great enough to go to the NFL and sign for big bucks like kids get today as a top choice as a college Junior, I would urge him to take that money and lock his future up. Knees and legs do wear out. Invest that money and he would be set. Loyalty to the school? he must have done well playing for that school, hence the big $$ bucks as a Junior and under classman. Use logic.
2.) Muschamp did graduate from UGA as did his wife. SO WHAT??? The man is a coach, so you kids out there read and move on and stop with the dissing of Will Muschamp on loyalty issues. HE IS a professional NCAA football coach and is making around $ 3 million.
This has nothing to do with so called school or lam mater loyalty ……………..his loyalty is to his career advancement, his wife and family. Period.
I am a UGA man too. Go Dogs. UGA 31-29 Florida.
myother
October 28th, 2011
2:12 pm
I’m a dog but, I’m happy for Muschamp.
TampaDawg
October 28th, 2011
2:15 pm
@Beast from the East
“He wasn’t offered a scholarship and chose UGA for financial reasons.”
Might have to explain this one a little further otherwise, as a LONG time Florida resident myself, it will never make any sense to go to an out of state school for “financial reasons”. Did daddy get transferred to Georgia or something? What gives?
BullDawg Rick
October 28th, 2011
2:17 pm
We’re here in Jax..
To Hell with the “coach” of the gay-turds!!!
Go Dawgs!!!
RamseyRambo UGA
October 28th, 2011
2:17 pm
EPIC FAIL MUSCHAMP! GATA!
TampaDawg
October 28th, 2011
2:19 pm
Nevermind Beast, found the data. Rome, GA? Hmm. But lets make one thing clear. He may have walked on, but the team still has to put you on the roster. Earned or not. As for earning the C on his jersey, not sure how many blown coverages you have to have back in those days to “earn” that title but it must have been a lot.
Savh Dawg
October 28th, 2011
2:27 pm
He better invest that 3 million wisely because I don’t think he will be around too long.
gt4ever
October 28th, 2011
2:33 pm
UF is terrible! UGA will beat them like a drum, and become World Beaters, once again…..
Same 'ol thing
October 28th, 2011
2:37 pm
I can clear up 2 things too
1. Youre a douche for defending the idiotic and thoughtless remarks the traitor made to the greatest university in the world, which is my UGA.
2. Youre not a georgia fan. Maybe a man, not a fan.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 28th, 2011
2:39 pm
gt4ever
World Beaters; really
Your calling UGA fans World Beaters
The same Tech fan along with his buddy GT Joe and GT Bob; who after the Kansas game were talking about Tech beating the crap out of Alabama or LSU for the National Title
The only World Beaters I have ever seen is that garbage dump North Ave fanbase
TampaDawg
October 28th, 2011
2:42 pm
@Flat Tire, we don’t always see eye to eye, but our mutual love for UGA makes me say this with a sense of pride: THAT WAS THE GREATEST ANTI-TECH POST I HAVE SEEN ON HERE IN A LONG TIME.
Smokewagon
October 28th, 2011
2:49 pm
He wanted to play for Fl but settled for UGA??? Beat him like a yard dog and CMR ought to kick him square in the nads.
Will Who
October 28th, 2011
2:50 pm
Of course it was a great opportunity for WM to take the Florida job and he would have been a fool to turn it down. The thing that bothers me is that I have never once heard him say that he was proud to be a Dawg and that those years meant a lot to him. The only thing I heard him say was that when he was with those other schools it was “temporary insanity”.
ATL gator
October 28th, 2011
2:50 pm
Can’t wait til UF throws 10-15 sideline screens & slot screens against UGA this wknd. You guys want to take out Brantley’s ankle, you haven’t played anyone with speed like demps or Rainey. Funny how they both come back to beat that dawg ass Again! It’s all about the game-plan and you guys about getting ready to see it. Bye Richt!
7576DAWG
October 28th, 2011
2:53 pm
Being a 76 graduate of Georgia I bleed Red and Black. But my father is from an area of Florida about 60 miles from Gainesville . I spent too many vacations with true Gator fans to hate Florida. They never said one bad thing when I would drive up in my all red and black Mustage with UGA tags. I have too many relatives in Florida to hate them. I always pull for Florida if they are not playing Georgia. I always pull for Florida State because there is no coach in my life time that I respect more than Bobby Bowden.
Now if Georgia fans want to save hate for someone direct it to AUBURN. Shug Jordan was the dirtiest coach ever in the SEC and I will always HATE Auburn. Ask the UGA players in the late 60’s and early 70’s what they think of Auburn.
anon
October 28th, 2011
2:58 pm
LOL…..haven’t thought about Whit Marshall in many years. I was in school when those guys were playing, both of them sucked. Our defenses were a joke in the mid-90’s.
TampaDawg
October 28th, 2011
2:59 pm
ATL gator
October 28th, 2011
2:50 pm
Can’t wait til UF throws 10-15 sideline screens & slot screens against UGA this wknd. You guys want to take out Brantley’s ankle, you haven’t played anyone with speed like demps or Rainey.
——————————
Really? Did you see last year’s game? I distinctly remember two guys there named Demps and Rainey in Gators jerseys. Funny thing is, that was a healthy Brantley in there also and a lesser experienced UGA 3-4 defense and your lizards still almost choked it away when they should have smoke Georgia bad. Good luck with that crap your talking.
Fact Finding Missionary
October 28th, 2011
3:02 pm
Muschamp went to Darlington School in Rome, GA….private boarding school. In-state Georgia tuition. Some people just can’t read…of course this is the UGA beat blog.
ugaDAWG
October 28th, 2011
3:04 pm
Two years. Over and under on when Muschamp will pull a Woody Hayes and slug a player or a coach? He’s no longer a ‘Dawg. If he ever was.
Alabama Dog
October 28th, 2011
3:05 pm
ATL gator: that’s some pretty big talk for a team that couldn’t score a TD against Auburn’s PATHETIC defense!!!!!
7576DAWG
October 28th, 2011
3:09 pm
TampaDawg
More importantly the Florida players will remember how Georgia out played them and if it wasn’t for a lot of missed assignments on defense with our guy’s learning the 3-4 and Murray many turnovers that Georgia would have smoked Florida last year. Florida players knows the best team didn’t win last year as does South Carolina players this year.
ATL gator
October 28th, 2011
3:13 pm
Yes I saw last years game…we won. I also watched all year as Brantley ran an offense that couldn’t have been worse for him…and we still won. 4-3, 3-4 r u serious. Choked it away lol? I bet you were there to watch them lose to UCF too, talk about choking wow!
Spike 80DF
October 28th, 2011
3:14 pm
Muschamp will be coaching defense in the ACC in a few years…Dawgs roll
DAWG with two bags over head
October 28th, 2011
3:14 pm
Regardless of what anyone says, if Muschamp wears orange, he’s a traitor!
RamboDog
October 28th, 2011
3:17 pm
Beast from the East…..Muschump must have always been a Gator…he was torched when FL played UGA in Athens. I guess the game was “fixed”.
Stinger2
October 28th, 2011
3:19 pm
Can someone tell me what time toe meets leather in Jacksonville.
DAWG with two bags over head
October 28th, 2011
3:20 pm
3:30 EST
JAWJeRDAWG
October 28th, 2011
3:21 pm
3:30 pm
Beast from the East
October 28th, 2011
3:25 pm
RamboDog,
Be fair. Name one DB in the SEC that wasn’t torched by Spurrier’s offense a time or two back in the 90’s. His receviers ran wild for about 6-7 years until a few coaches FINALLY figured out you better put some athletes back there or you’ll never stop them.
papadawg
October 28th, 2011
3:25 pm
Don’t you people get it. Muschamp has washed his hands of the DAWGS and he now claims to be a Danged gator at heart so to Hell with him
ATL gator
October 28th, 2011
3:28 pm
Little Tommy went to Kindergarten wearing a UF hat. His teacher asked him why he was a UF fan. He said, “Because my parents are”. His teacher said, “That’s not good”. What would you do if your parents were red-neck drug dealers and hookers?” He replied, “Well then I would be a Georgia fan!”
Go Gators! now that’s good…
Stinger2
October 28th, 2011
3:28 pm
Thanks Dawg and Jaw. You guys will win easily tomorrow. Irs UGA`s time.
bugs
October 28th, 2011
3:30 pm
I’m a Tech fan and I don’t like him.He seems a little strange.
JAWJeRDAWG
October 28th, 2011
3:31 pm
ATL gator
Classless!
jimmy
October 28th, 2011
3:33 pm
@ why is it..I live in Florida. The hate for the dawgs there is the same as dawgs fans hate for the Gaytors so whatever to that comment. Gatorbait spells champ with a u….
GO DAWGS!!!
JAWJeRDAWG
October 28th, 2011
3:33 pm
bugs
You must be referring to ATL gator!
ATL gator
October 28th, 2011
3:34 pm
I actually got it from a UGA fan and reposted, it’s a little harsh I’ll agree, but all in good fun. i had a lugh when he sent it to me.
DublDawg
October 28th, 2011
3:36 pm
Whatacrew:
Coaches at Darlington did not make less than the public school coaches in Rome, they made more. The coaches at Darlington were hired away from East Rome in the mid 80’s when the school decided to make a bigger commitment to f’ball and were given a big bump in pay and tuition benefits for kids.
JB
October 28th, 2011
3:43 pm
Muschamp does not have the “head coach capitol” or maturity to say something about Georgia that word come off as class. He’s lost three games and he knows the whispers. The whispers would be ” we’ve hire a freaking Georgia guy to be our coach and he ain’t proved nothing to me”. Dooley had class. Maybe Muschamp will one day. He could of chosen his words more wisely and not been a jerk about it.