Full disclosure.......this is very long and detailed, skip it if you don;t want a long read
I have always felt an affinity for the Gamecocks. As a Gator fan I have always rooted for Spurrier no matter where he was. I also selfishly want every team on our schedule, especially the SEC East teams, to be strong national contenders. The tougher our schedule the more it helps us get recognition.
That is why I was so dismayed when South Carolina hired Muschamp. I understand why some think it is a good hire. He fooled a lot of Gators as well. I also understand why many Gamecock fans are trying to be positive regardless of what they actually think. I get it. I just think it is misguided.
I have heard a lot of people claim that Muschamp will become a great coach. He has supporters. They can never tell you what exactly it is though that will transform him into a good coach. They just say that he is enthusiastic and likable.
My dog is enthusiastic and likeable, that will never make her a good football coach. On the other hand, I can explain exactly how Muschamp failed at Florida.
Developing a Plan for Success
When Spurrier arrived at Florida he immediately announced that he had no idea who his starting QB was going to be, but he would win the SEC player of the year award. Then he took a 4th string QB named Shane Matthews and turned him into the SEC player of the year.
Spurrier in his prime had developed a proven system that he knew would work. He had a plan.
When Muschamp arrived he simply stated that we would be a blue collar team that worked hard, ran downhill and played a line of scrimmage game. He had no plan, he just had a vague idea of what he wanted his team to look like.
Recruiting
To run downhill and win a line of scrimmage game you need OL. Lots of OL. In the first two years that Muschamp was the head coach at UF he recruited a total of 4 OL. In contrast, during that same time period he recruited 11 players for the secondary which happens to be the position he takes great pride in coaching.
Florida is considered one of the best recruiting grounds for skill players in the country. UF has a built in natural advantage with it's location. Every UF coach has recruited well. However, Muschamp could not land top ranked offensive skill position players on a consistent basis.
It was obvious that Muschamp was not going to field an offense with a passing dimension. Wide receivers were blockers and quarterbacks were just there to hand the ball off.
He tends to get highly rated recruiting classes, but he stocks up on defensive players and completely neglects the offense.
Offense
In his time at Florida he changed offensive coordinators as often as most people change underwear. The offense did not work under any of them. The truly curious thing though is that the offense always looked exactly the same regardless of who the OC was.
Our offense ran the ball on first down a very high percentage of the time. Muschamp made it clear over and over that he wanted a hard nosed running team. While he was the head coach at UF he said, on more than one occasion, that when you throw the ball only three things can happen and two of them are bad.
When your offense has clear, well defined tendencies it is easy to game plan a defense. Stack the box on first down and create second and long. Our offensive line was undisciplined, but they also appeared to lack talent (more on that later). It is hard for even highly talented lines to open holes when the defense knows what you are doing. Muschamp's offense was always ranked near the bottom nationally.
The only offensive statistic that Muschamp continually referenced was time of possession. He truly cared about winning time of possession. His philosophy is that the purpose of the offense is to run clock so the defense can stay rested and win the game.
There were multiple occasions when Florida would find itself losing the game and in possession of the ball in good field position with only a couple of minutes left in the first half. Muschamp was very consistent in that situation. He would run the clock out. He purposefully made the decision to not try to score points.
It is not embellishment to say that Muschamp hates offense.
Defense
Muschamp recruited, fielded and game planned very good defenses while at UF. They were some of the most talented defenses I have ever personally seen at UF. However, they completely lacked discipline. It was a common thing for the defense to get a critical third or fourth down stop and then commit a stupid dead ball personal foul. That is basically a defensive turnover. They gave the ball back to the other team.
For me, it was easy to see how this was repeatedly happening. In any organization the person at the top sets a culture. Everyone else gets permissions from that person on acceptable behavior within the organization.
Muschamp was always out of control on the sidelines. The man is seemingly incapable of controlling his emotions. It is a detriment to the team. I have witnessed him ignoring the game and violently screaming at the referees over something that happened several plays ago. He loses all perspective and the ability to focus on what is currently happening.
Then his defense commits an emotional dead ball personal foul and gives the ball back to the other team. Muschamp sets a culture where it is acceptable to lose self control and focus.
I honestly think there is a small chance that Muschamp's coaching career will one day end with him punching a referee.
Responsibility
There is no doubt that Muschamp is a hard worker. This section is not about that type of responsibility. In order to evolve and grow you must accept responsibility for the choices, actions and results in your life. Everyone makes errors, the truly successful use that experience to adapt. Basically, there are two types of coaches, those who achieve at a high level and those who have really good reasons why they do not. Muschamp falls in the latter category.
When Muschamp started losing he constantly told anyone that would listen that when he arrived the cupboard was bare. He was eager to blame the previous regime for his current lack of success.
However, the numbers do not back up that claim. Muschamp inherited 18 players that would eventually be drafted by the NFL. Three more Gators that played for Muschamp are expected to be drafted this year and more will be next year as well. There are a lot of college coaches that would love to have that many future NFL players on their roster.
Yet even with all that talent Muschamp could only manage 28 wins. His 2013 4-8 record was the worst at UF since the Gators last had a losing record in 1979. That year Muschamp found a new excuse - injuries.
Actually, injuries plagued every Muschamp team at Florida. A long list of injured players was a mainstay during his tenure. Many wondered if it had anything to do with the revamped strength and conditioning program led by newly hired assistant coach Jeff Dillman. There is no proof of any connection, but the unusually large number of injuries sustained over a long period of time might suggest a need to reevaluate the strength and conditioning program. As per usual with Muschamp, he stubbornly stayed the course. If nothing else, he is very loyal. He has hired Dillman again at South Carolina.
Even with all of the injuries, no one saw the loss to Georgia Southern coming. Florida had one of the most highly rated defenses in the nation. The game was being played at the Swamp. Florida had never in it's entire history lost to a lower tier football program.
In addition, lower tier programs are not allowed to have the 85 scholarship players upper division teams can sign. Florida had 20 more scholarship players than their lowly opponent. To top it off, Georgia Southern had also experienced an inordinate number of injuries. They were actually missing more injured starters than UF. Georgia Southern had to start a third string OL due to injuries. I am not sure what level of talent a third string Ga Southern player possesses, but I am fairly certain it would not earn you a scholarship at UF.
In that game Georgia Southern only attempted three passes and they did not complete any. Not one completion. Our defensive genius head coach was playing with a stacked deck. He had every conceivable advantage and he lost.
Georgia Southern ran for 429 yards averaging just under 8 yards per carry. They had 3 different running backs with a long run over 40 yards. This even though we only allowed them 57 offensive plays. Georgia Southern turned the ball over twice and the Gators did not have a single turnover. The Gators were only flagged for 2 penalties the entire game. Still, Muschamp found a way to lose.
This is the same Georgia Southern team that lost to Wofford, Samford, Furman and got blown out by Appalachian State. It is inexplicable.
When you have already lost the confidence of the fan base and then you lose to Georgia Southern in that fashion, you come to the press conference and admit that what you are doing is simply not working. You just come clean and announce that you are going to have to reevaluate, learn from the experience and change how you do things.
Not Muschamp. Muschamp showed his usual lack of composure and yelled about midlines. He actually tried to convince everyone that Georgia Southern's offense is just unstoppable. He explained that they won by utilizing midlines and I quote "midlines take the talent out of the equation". He never bothered to explain why, given his knowledge of magical midlines, we did not use them to help our offense. Apparently, Georgia Southern has a monopoly on midlines.
Muschamp is the very definition of stubborn. He remains convinced that he did everything absolutely right at UF and it was forces outside his control that caused his downfall. He would rather lose using his dysfunctional system than admit he is wrong and change.
I honestly believe that he brought so many of his ex-Gator assistant coaches to South Carolina because he wants to prove that he can win without changing anything.
Developing Players
As stated previously, Muschamp had a lot of future NFL talent on his teams. He excelled at developing defensive talent. His record with offensive talent is not as impressive.
Muschamp had no intention of developing a high powered offense. He was going to win games with his defense. In his mind, he just needed an offense that would not turn the ball over and his defense would do everything else. That meant minimal passing and lots of punting for field position.
Jacoby Brissett was the QB under Muschamp for a period of time. In 2 seasons at UF he threw for 455 yards with 3 TDs, 4 INTs and 5 sacks. He transferred to NC State and promptly became the starter (after the obligatory one year transfer rule). In 2 seasons at NC State he has thrown for 5,054 yards with 42 TDs, 9 INTs and 61 sacks.
High School Gatorade National Player of the Year Jeff Driskell played so poorly in Muschamp's system he was almost universally disliked by Florida fans. In 4 seasons at UF (medical redshirt) he threw for 3,411 yards with 23 TDs, 20 Ints and 55 sacks. In his one season after transferring to La Tech he has thrown for 4,033 yards with 27 TDs, 8 Ints and 19 sacks.
Both are very capable QB's that could not find any success in Muschamp's system. That pattern holds true for many offensive players that have found success once they were free of Muschamp's offensive philosophy.
Constantly changing offensive coordinators made no difference because no matter who was in the position, they had to run Muschamp's offense. Minimal passing, minimal risk, run clock and let the defense win the game. There was very little room to actually develop offensive players.
The one bright spot is that you can always count on Muschamp to have really good reasons why his teams fail to achieve.
