Firstly, I agree 150% percent that for Jim McIlwain winning two eastern division crowns, he totally benefited from MUSCHAMP"s defense at Florida. And you see how he got canned when Muschamp's recruits and coached-UP defensive players had mostly left,etc. I was fairly mystified when I saw Muschamp fired by an impatient/spoiled Florida administration--And i was no Gator lover. Glad they refused to see the 2nd year SEC coach of the year part of him.
As far as Clemson, as others allude, that is not mostly on Muschamp. Heck, Clemson has been in the FINAL FOUR for what THREE YEARS IN A ROW ? So , with the great recruiting Dabo has been doing for 8 or 10 years, Muschamp is incrementally getting the kind of players HE wants in here> (Remember the several 4 STARS that jumped ship after Muschamp came in ? They may have not wanted to change from the "country club" atmosphere that Spurrier created to the "boot camp" mentality that Muschamp now enforces.
I am proud to say I once resisted others on this GAMECOCK CENTRAL when I cautioned : "WE HAVE TO GIVE MUSCHAMP A CHANCE . When you have bullets flying, it's no time to argue on 'Hey guys I don't think we should be in this war !' I.e., they chose Muschamp, so let's go to the games, and believe for the best."
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No, one writer above is not ready to make a final decision after 2 years on Muschamp. That's fair. But on the other hand,I have liked the fire in Muschamp's recruiting belly since he DASHED OUT of the new coach ceremony. That was December , 2015. And NOBODY gave us a legitimate chance to beat the winningness team in college history this past January. That'd be Michigan. At the BEGINNING bookend of the season,
The N C State Wolfpack was a TEN point favorite to whip the 'cocks. And with the Wolfpack whole summer to salivate , Muschamp STILL beat THEM by a full touchdown, September, 2017.
I simply can't see how ANYone could honestly say--that's if they don't have some bias--How could anyone say Muschamp hasn't improved the problem since the future HOF Steve Spurrier jumped ship ? At that time, the Gamecock recruiting descended down to #76 in the nation ??!!!
BTW, I would edit that earlier writer on here, that we GAMECOCKS descended from an 11 and TWO season (not 11 and 3)
to 7-6 to 3 and 9 before Muschamp came here. Which 11 and 2 shows even more of our drop--and what Muschamp and company has had to do to get us going again.
I think that early UGA game Sept 8,2018--and whether their replacement to the nation's best LB (Roquan Smith) and theire replacement to the nation's best 1-2 running back punch (Nick Chubbs and Sony Michel), Remember they run the ball 70-75 % of the time. One of their 5 star running backs is not expected to play until past mid-season (James Cook is Dalvin Cook's younger brother.)
I hope that I am right, I talked to one of the Quarterback coaches here at Athens. And as I said to him, I wonder if UGA can be ready that quickly (Game 2) for what Carolina is likely to offer, offensively, for the Fall, 2018 season.
He just shook my hand in the parking deck and humbly said "Pleased to meet you" !
