To say Tanner probably wanted to keep Horn is just stupid. By the way, I know for a fact that Tanner is responsible for preventing Staley from taking an interview at another Power 5 school a few years back. So, be thankful for that!
Do I think he's the 5th or 6th best HC in the SEC? As of today, probably not. Probably have to put Saban and Smart and maybe Fisher at the top of the list. With the way their seasons are going THIS year, Orgeron, Mullen, and Malzahn are probably next, although Auburn fans are always looking to fire Malzahn, and let's face it, LSU fans weren't excited about Orgeron when he was hired, but it's looking like a good hire now! Mark Stoops is probably in the conversation in the next tier with Muschamp IMO. BTW, I believe Stoops had an $18 million dollar buyout prior to his 10-win season last year as well. Again, not saying I love it, but it IS how things are done now.
I think the way things went the first couple of years here for Muschamp, including a 9-win season in year two was good faith that the program was moving in the right direction, considering what a mess it was when he got here.
My point is, (for football) we are not a program now, nor have we ever been a program that can out-recruit or out-resource places like Georgia, Alabama, Florida and A&M. The in-state population and lack of endowments/big time donors is a detriment that will prevent USC from ever being a consistent national power in football. USC can certainly have years where in contends (like it did under Spurrier), but it's not sustainable due to those factors. And firing a coach right now would do more damage than good as you have to start all over in recruiting and such. I do believe that year 5 will be the hot-seat year for Muschamp and if the program doesn't appear to be moving in the right direction, as it had been the first three years, then he's gone.
If you didn't like the hire overall of Muschamp, that's fine. Of the coaches that were available AT THAT TIME, whom do you think USC should have got, that they could have got? I think many of you over-estimate how desirable the football job is here in terms of belief that you can have sustained success. I say this having lived in other states and having a family member that works national media covering college football. I do believe if UGA hadn't fired Richt, we would have gotten Kirby Smart, and it was wise of UGA to do so, because it was my understanding that he would have come here if that job hadn't opened.