That’s one more off the list
Scout is reporting that Muschamp isn’t going anywhere.
Mack Brown, at his weekly press conference, announced today that defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has agreed to be the Head Coach in waiting.
The scenario is very akin to the coaching situation at Florida State where Jimbo Fisher has been announced as the heir apparent to Bobby Bowden.
The timeline for the succession plan is not known at this time. The new contract calls for Muschamp to earn $900,000 annually starting January 1, 2009.
Oh well. I’m not too worried about this.
I’ve compiled, as best I can (anyone got the defensive stats for Valdosta State for 2000? Or any national stats pre-2000?) a rough metric of the defenses Will Muschamp has been in charge of. As I had suspected, his defenses have been pretty good. Also as I suspected, the defenses were pretty good before and/or after he left. That doesn’t automatically mean he’s a bad defensive coordinator, but it does mean that is difficult to differentiate his performance from that of the people with which he surrounds himself.
I’ve highlighted where Muschamp was the DC.
| Total Defense – National Rank | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| LSU | Auburn | Texas | |
| 2000 | 46 | 14 | 7 |
| 2001 | 75 | 39 | 1 |
| 2002 | 8 | 26 | 16 |
| 2003 | 1 | 5 | 25 |
| 2004 | 3 | 5 | 23 |
| 2005 | 3 | 19 | 10 |
| 2006 | 3 | 19 | 22 |
| 2007 | 3 | 6 | 52 |
| 2008 | 24 | 26 | 58 |
At LSU, the defense got worse his first year before being very good for three years. But notice that it stayed very good for 3 more years after he was gone.
Auburn had a pretty good defense in the years before Will Muschamp arrived. In the two years he was there, it didn’t really improve.
And this year we see that the defense of Texas isn’t all the great and is positively middle of the pack.
Wow! How many people saw that coming? If you rank the schools with the Job Advert out, only the Vols could be ahead when it comes to prestigious programs.
So this is what I think TDP’s ad is like:
Wanted: 49-52 year old, preferably with HC experience, showing clear progress made under his watch, be it the entire program or offensive or defensive unit.
Candidate must have ties to the south, have a clear idea of how to take the program forward and a strong recruiting record. The candidate must also have the balls to take strong as well as calculated risks and gambles. The candidate must have his own philosophy with preferred unit, and should guarantee not going to the tank if/when the coordinator leaves for an HC position himself.
Now which of the names being thrown around fits the bill or comes closest?