What Will MusCHOMP hire means to the Gators

I am loving the Will Muschamp hire as the head coach for the Florida Gators. Rapid fire begins now:

Florida Gators coach Will Muschamp expresses his singular goal for the football team (Icon SMI)

One, he’s worked for some of the best HBCs in the business in Nick Saban, Tommy Tuberville and Mack Brown so he has been around a lot of winning teams and has worked for coaches that know how to win. It doesn’t get much better in terms of mentors than those three.

Two, he obviously knows defense, and his defenses have been among the best in the nation since he got his first DC opportunity with LSU. It was LSU’s defense that led them to the 2003 National Championship Game. It was Texas’ D that kept them in the game versus Alabama last year after Colt McCoy went down. Certainly, Saban gets a lot of credit for LSU’s D but Muschamp was doing all the day-to-day teaching/coaching for that defense. He’s had not just “good” defenses everywhere he’s been; he’s had GREAT defenses.

I read how ‘bad’ Texas’ D was this year when, in fact, they were 7th in the nation in fewest yards allowed per game. That’s better than most everyone in the SEC sans Alabama and they had to battle the Big XII offenses with very young personnel… True, the TX ppg allowed suffered this year but that had as much to do with Texas’ O and turnovers as it did their D.

In terms of STOPPING AN OPPONENT, no one does it any better than MusCHOMP.

Two more after the jump.

Three, he knows how to recruit. At LSU… At Auburn… At Texas… The guy has been one of the best – if not THE BEST – recruiting assistant coach in the nation. I honestly can’t think of a better one. And, when you consider his potential ‘competition’ for the head job at UF, the knock on Dan Mullen and Bobby Petrino both is their lack of recruiting prowess….

Four, he has all the leadership intangibles that you look for – passion, development of people (coaches and players), integrity, et al. He will bring A LOT of energy to Florida football.

In summary, I can see why AD Jeremy Foley chose him, and I can definitely see a bright future for him in G’ville. Like anything else though, he has to prove it all on the field and that’s always easier said than done. The schedule won’t get any easier next season as the Gators play Auburn, Alabama AND LSU out of the SEC West along with the usual suspects in the SEC East (Carolina will likely be the preseason pick to win the SEC East). All the potential in the world won’t mean squat if he’s not playing for a SEC Championship within 3 years (MAX) – recall Zook only got 2.5 years (fired mid-way though his 3rd year).

If Spurrier gets Carolina there again in 2011, then MusCHOMP gets the old, “first-year coach” mulligan, but, make no mistake, the seat will get hotter for 2012.

Welcome aboard MusCHOMP. No excuses – take your weapon and assume your new post at the head of the long, orange & blue line….