The Legend of Coach Boom: Inside the career of Will Muschamp

“I’m going to be really excited running out of that tunnel of Williams-Brice when ‘2001’ cranks up,” Will Muschamp said six days ago. “I get goosebumps just thinking about it.”

And with that, the Coach Boom Era at South Carolina began.

As the hoopla died, Gamecock Nation began wondering – who did they hire? The defensive maestro? The fired Florida coach? The outstanding recruiter? The sideline dynamo?

All.

Muschamp’s first big job was with LSU’s Nick Saban as linebackers coach. Scott Rabalais, columnist for The (Baton Rouge) Advocate, remembered Muschamp’s rising reputation.

RABALAIS: “When he was an assistant here, he clearly made an impression. His youth and excitement and energy were evident from the first time you saw them practice.”

Muschamp was named defensive coordinator after his first season. LSU led the country in scoring and total defense on the way to the 2003 national championship.

RABALAIS: “They shut down an Oklahoma team in the Sugar Bowl (154 yards). That defense was about being in the right place and knowing their assignments and being very tough-minded. They never made stupid mistakes.”

After 2004, Muschamp left with Saban for the Miami Dolphins. There wasn’t any consideration for Muschamp to replace Saban as LSU head coach.

RABALAIS: “For Will to leave, you knew he was somebody who wanted to advance his career. He wasn’t considered at LSU because they were going to get a sitting head coach. It just wasn’t Will’s time.”

After one NFL season, Muschamp joined Tommy Tuberville at Auburn. The Tigers won 20 games from 2006-07 and Muschamp’s defense was third in the nation in scoring defense. He then leapt to Texas. Mike Finger, Texas beat writer for the San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle, saw that Muschamp would fit right in with a football-mad culture.

FINGER: “From a reporter’s standpoint, when you try to loosen somebody up, you small-talk about things other than football. To put him at ease, you had to talk about blitzing. And that’s not him avoiding questions, that’s him talking about what he loves. One of the few times I’d see his eyes light up was when he was breaking down football.”

The thought was 2008 could yield a national title. A six-point loss to Texas Tech on Nov. 1 cost the Longhorns their shot, but Texas was still in the middle of a 12-1 season. On Nov. 18, Texas announced that Muschamp was named head coach in waiting, despite Mack Brown having eight years left on his contract.

FINGER: “It had been kind of a revolving door at defensive coordinator. Muschamp kind of rode to the rescue in 2008 and got them back at a level to play for a national championship. A bunch of schools were hiring and Will’s name was mentioned. That move to make him coach in waiting was, ‘We can’t go through this again. We like this guy.’”

Texas was first in the country with 119 sacks during Muschamp’s tenure. The 2009 Longhorns gave up just 73.1 rushing yards per game and led the country in third-down defense, turnovers created and interceptions. They went 13-0 and earned a title-game berth against Alabama. Their hopes blew up when quarterback Colt McCoy was injured, leading to a 37-21 defeat. Still, everything looked bright for Muschamp’s future.

FINGER: “The program kind of fell apart, and it didn’t stem from the tag, it stemmed from the way that things were falling apart. After the Iowa State loss, Mack said he couldn’t trust his coaches. Will didn’t come out and say he didn’t appreciate that, but Will couldn’t have appreciated that.”

The Longhorns skidded to 5-7.

FINGER: “I still wonder what would have happened had Texas beaten Alabama in that title game. I think that there was maybe a 10 percent chance that Mack would have walked away had they won. He might have left and let Will take over. Who’s to say how that would have gone at Texas? Clearly there were cracks in the foundation … but that would have been interesting to see.”

Muschamp was named Florida head coach on Dec. 12, 2010.

FINGER: “They had the season wrapup team banquet on Friday night and Muschamp was there because recruits were in town. No one had mentioned the possibility of Will going to Florida until Saturday night, even Mack. Nobody on staff had any idea it was even in the works.”

Were Texas fans more upset or surprised?

FINGER: “Who could blame a guy for taking that job? At the time, Mack could have gone on forever, and he kind of did, really. I don’t think anybody begrudged (Muschamp), but it did kind of throw Texas for a loop.”

Cody Jones, beat writer for FightinGators.com, remembers the excitement among Florida fans. Despite losing Urban Meyer, the Gators had immediately nabbed a hotshot assistant.

JONES: “I think people saw him as one of the best recruiters in the country. He was a guy that could come in and fix defenses and was capable of taking those defensive players to the next level. No question he did that.”

Muschamp chose Charlie Weis as his offensive coordinator.

JONES: “At the time, it was well-received. Weis was what was seen as an elite offensive mind. It was a great hire on name recognition alone. But it didn’t work out for sure in the first season.”

Florida finished 7-6 after beginning 4-0. Weis’ offense struggled and while Muschamp’s defense was marvelous, he had to clean up the mess left by (Urban) Meyer. Muschamp did, but he was also beginning to install a system that left a sour taste in Gator mouths.

JONES: “He wanted to be a team that leaned on its defense. On offense, he thought, ‘Just dominate time of possession and keep the clock running.’ Coming after Steve Spurrier and Urban, people began to get furious at this slow-down, plodding offense. He was so terrified of risk.”

Weis left to be head coach at Kansas, leading Muschamp to hire Brent Pease from Boise State. Muschamp still wanted to be a running team – and with Florida’s defense in 2012, nobody blamed him. The Gators finished 11-2, falling to Georgia and then Louisville in the Sugar Bowl. The mood was upbeat – Muschamp had had a season to clean out Meyer’s grime and won 11 games in his second.

JONES: “(2013) was the year of the injuries, especially at quarterback. Jacoby Brissett transferred after Muschamp named Jeff Driskel the starter, and Driskel broke his leg in the third game. Once that happened, everybody started to say that this thing might start going downhill.”

The defense continued to shine, but Florida could not put the ball in the end zone. The Gators finished 4-8, losing their last seven, three by six points or less. Fifteen players had season-ending injuries, including 10 starters.

JONES: “It was a snowball effect from (Driskel’s injury). And most people saw that it was just a lot of bad luck and crazy injuries at QB. I don’t know if anything would have saved that season. I think that’s where some of the sideline behavior was really noticed – that’s all nice when you win, and shameful when you lose. He was just frustrated, and in 2013, that was always there. Maybe it wasn’t the ideal way to rep the program at times, but that’s a major part of who he is.”

Muschamp turned to Kurt Roper as OC.

JONES: “Something needed to change. They had a totally different look under Roper. They were able to go spread and up-tempo. The problem was they didn’t have much speed to go with it. They didn’t have the gamebreakers Florida had become known for.”

“Hot seat” talk began in Week 3, despite Florida surviving Kentucky in three overtimes. The Gators hosted Missouri for Homecoming. Muschamp’s defense held the Tigers to 119 yards, yet the Gators lost 42-13 after yielding four returns for touchdowns.

JONES: “Florida is a fan base that’s been spoiled by points and offense. They love putting big numbers on people. To have it put on them in The Swamp was ridiculous. We thought (a firing) may happen then. But then he finally beat Georgia, and then they beat Vandy, and we’re thinking, ‘Now he’s got it back together.’ Then the unthinkable happens.”

USC beat Florida in overtime despite trailing by seven with 3:31 to go. Two blocked kicks turned the game.

JONES: “That summed up that a change needed to be made. The boos were getting much louder. It had gone far enough.”

Muschamp was fired the next day, although he stayed until the end of the season. He became defensive coordinator at Auburn with a $1.6 million salary, the highest assistant figure in the country. Despite the excitement and his acumen as a defensive savior, Auburn finished 13^th in the SEC in total defense. Matthew Stevens covered Auburn for The Montgomery Advertiser.

STEVENS: “The problem was it depended on two things – young guys in the secondary being able to grow up quickly, and the health of Carl Lawson. When those freshmen didn’t develop as fast as he hoped, and then Lawson goes down in the first game, things just unraveled.”

Muschamp wanted to implement his system, but quickly realized he couldn’t do it. He began adjusting, seizing any idea if he thought it would work.

STEVENS: “You saw a lot of pushing and a lot of tinkering. He moved Cassanova McKinzy to a stand-up rusher. Blake Countess was a corner, he ends up playing safety halfway through. He wasn’t arrogant enough to think, ‘We’re going to do this no matter what.’”

The Tigers finished 6-6 and will play in the Birmingham Bowl. Auburn lost in four overtimes to Arkansas, by eight to Ole Miss, by seven to Georgia and by 16 to Alabama.

STEVENS: “If Arkansas is a four-quarter regulation game, Auburn finishes middle of the pack in defense. I think Will accomplished a lot of objectives and the stats are misleading. He was very adamant that he had never been through something like this before, and hadn’t had to coach a defense this poor fundamentally in a long, long time. But McKinzy became more productive, Kris Frost became more productive and Carlton Davis had a fantastic freshman year. When the losses started piling up, we started hearing players talk about how Will was trying to make the players accountable – ‘This is your responsibility. You’re not doing your job.’ It was very, very evident from the LSU game on that this wasn’t going to go very well. Will kind of knew it, and there were no blowups or anything, and he was pretty frank and honest.”

Muschamp was hired at USC and immediately stressed defense and recruiting as keys to the Gamecocks’ success. Roper will again handle the offense. What did USC get?

FINGER: “One thing about his time at Texas – he looked at film when he was here and was at least intrigued enough that he suggested, ‘Hey, we ought to look at this guy. Maybe he can help us.’ He was overruled and Mack didn’t recruit him at all. That was Johnny Manziel.”

RABALAIS: “He still reminds me of that guy at LSU in a way. He wears his emotion on his sleeve. I’m sure he learned from the Florida job. You have to learn things on the job that you just can’t know as an assistant coach. There are mistakes you’re going to make and you’re going to learn from that experience.”

JONES: “Offense is what’s going to determine his success. While it wasn’t good at Florida, I think he showed in that last year that he’s willing to go out and make changes and do what’s necessary. He’s up there with the best of them in recruiting, and his defense speaks for itself. Defense was never the issue.”

STEVENS: “What he’s going to do is have an instant impact on recruits. With Will, that’s what you get. He might not play the freshmen right away, but they’ll be the difference-makers later on.”

As for Coach Boom? Can he win enough so that it becomes an endearing part of him and not a distraction?

RABALAIS: “He probably needs to channel that a little better as a head coach, especially the second time around. I think by the end of his tenure at Florida, he realized he can’t be that firebrand guy all the time as a head coach. Things had gotten out of hand and it worked against him. He’s still going to be intense, but not the same as he was at Florida.”

FINGER: “He has that ‘boom’ personality. I saw him blow up in that Alabama-Auburn game, and that’s the Will that we remember. Most Texas fans, I don’t think they’re staying up nights thinking, ‘We should have kept Will Muschamp,’ because it didn’t work at Florida. But he’s been the same guy all the way through. He wants to talk ball, he wants to talk defense and gap integrity and blitzing schemes. That’s when he’s most himself.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 6:28 PM with the headline "The Legend of Coach Boom: Inside the career of Will Muschamp."