Caslen looks forward to Muschamp as USC coach ‘next year and for seasons to come’
It’s been an eventful two weeks for South Carolina school president Robert Caslen and his discussions of head football coach Will Muschamp.
On Wednesday, that led to him releasing a statement on the matter, saying he misspoke in an interview with the Florence Morning News and looks forward to Muschamp being coach next year and beyond.
“I misspoke and the mistake was mine,” Caslen said in the statement. “And I apologize for any confusion my comments have created with Gamecock fans or our program. Our Athletic Director and I support Will Muschamp, and we look forward to him being our coach next year and for seasons to come.”
Early this week, Caslen told the Florence Morning News that athletic director Ray Tanner had spoken to Florida State about how it handled a $17 million contract buyout of coach Willie Taggart. Soon after that story published, Caslen issued a statement saying Tanner had not spoken to FSU.
Before the team’s trip to Texas A&M, Caslen told The Greenville News that Muschamp was his coach until the end of the season. Fallout from this prompted Ray Tanner to issue a statement Friday saying Muschamp was the coach “going forward” but providing little specificity about what that meant.
Muschamp is in the midst of a 4-7 season and his team is a 24 1/2-point underdog to Clemson in the season finale. He is 26-24 in three seasons in Columbia.
Caslen’s full Wednesday statement is below:
“Earlier this week, I had a lengthy conversation with reporters and editors from the Florence Morning News about our university and the importance of keeping it affordable and accessible to the people of South Carolina. In the course of that interview, I was asked several questions about the football program, including one about Coach Muschamp that I misinterpreted. I misspoke and the mistake was mine, and I apologize for any confusion my comments have created with Gamecock fans or our program. Our Athletic Director and I support Will Muschamp, and we look forward to him being our coach next year and for seasons to come.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 1:28 PM.
