Will Muschamp to fans: Don’t lose sight of tenure’s ‘really good’ accomplishments
South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp called up the stat again in the minutes that followed his team’s loss Saturday.
The Gamecocks had not scored until the late moments of a 48-3 home loss to Texas A&M. It dropped his team to 2-4 on the season. He mentioned a fact he comes back to every so often. He was asked about it again Sunday night.
The program won the most games (22) of any USC coaching staff in his first three years. Since then, they’ve won just a third of their games — they’re 28-29 overall under Muschamp — and would need a 3-1 finish in 2020 to avoid back-to-back losing seasons.
He was asked about it in the context of preaching progress to a fan base that’s clearly irked by the way things have gone of late.
“It’s frustrating to me because we have done some good things,” Muschamp said. “We lose sight of that. As we continue to move forward, it’s frustrating. Our last two ballgames have been poor. We’re looking forward to another opportunity.”
That particular number is a tad generous without context. His teams won six, nine and seven games in his first three seasons, the first two campaigns out-stripping expectations. But the Gamecocks also played the most games of any such three-year period.
Below is the best winning percentage for Gamecocks coaches in Years 1-3 who won at least 22 games total:
- Warren Giese: .633
- Joe Morrison: .588
- Billy Laval: .580
- Sol Metzger: .577
- Steve Spurrier: .566
- Will Muschamp: .564
- Jim Carlen: .514
Since that 22-17 start, the Gamecocks are 6-12. The past two losses have been particularly disheartening — blowouts to LSU and Texas A&M — with the coaching staff drawing a cascade of boos and a “Fire Muschamp” chant breaking out Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium.
That game felt a long way from the 2018 Outback Bowl, when the Muschamp era reached its zenith at the end of a nine-win season. It felt a little like the 28-0 Belk Bowl loss to Virginia less than a year later that ended the team’s last winning season.
Removed from that, Muschamp looked back and forward, with a tough road ahead.
“We’ve got four great opportunities in front of us,” Muschamp said. “That’s what we’ve got to focus on as a staff and as a team. We have accomplished really good things here, and I don’t want anyone to lose sight of that.”
South Carolina (2-4) at Ole Miss (2-4)
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.
TV: SEC Network
Line: Ole Miss by 10
South Carolina 2020 football schedule
Sept. 26: Tennessee 31, South Carolina 27
Oct. 3: Florida 38, South Carolina 24
Oct. 10: South Carolina 41, Vanderbilt 7
Oct. 17: South Carolina 30, Auburn 11
Oct. 24: LSU 52, South Carolina 24
Oct. 31: OPEN
Nov. 7: Texas A&M 48, South Carolina 3
Nov. 14: at Ole Miss, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
Nov. 21: vs. Missouri
Nov. 28: vs. Georgia
Dec. 5: at Kentucky
