DCC: Will Muschamp

Submitted by alum96 on

Watching GameDay spend 10 minutes on the Will Muschamp era at UF and it sounds like his days are almost done.   Muschamp was a pretty damn good DC prior to UF, and even at UF his issue has not been defense, it has been offense.  (Tebow basically took UF's offense staff to task and ran them over with a bus) 

After this situation, he should be content to be a D-coordinator for at least 2 years I'd guess before someone in the Power 5 conferences at a lower level (i.e. a North Carolina type) gives him another chance.  He is a good ole Southern boy from Georgia who might have never traveled north of Kentucky, and can get very purple faced.... but with our budget for DC he should be one of the first calls Harbaugh our new coach makes.

This would be like marrying Les Miles level defense with Harbaugh our new coach's offense.

Here is Muschamp's data for his past 3 stops as both a DC (Auburn/Texas) and HC at UF.

    Total D Rush D Pass D
2006 Auburn 19 45 33
2007 Auburn 6 29 7
2008 Texas 51 3 59
2009 Texas 3 1 10
2010 Texas 6 44 36
2011 FL 8 40 28
2012 FL 5 4 2
2013 FL 8 33 7

 

maizenblue92

November 1st, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^

He may be one of those lifetime coordinators. Failing at Florida in recent times is actually difficult. I doubt he coaches a Power 5 team again, probably a lower tier team. 

alum96

November 1st, 2014 at 10:09 AM ^

Nah disagree, especially at his age.  Look how hard people have to squint to find coaches nowadays.  He is 43 years old, has been an elite defensive coordinator since his mid 30s.  He failed at one of the top 10 most pressured situations in college football.   A program like North Carolina or Virginia or the like would keel over to get him in 3-5 years.   Or a team like South Carolina could come for him after Spurrier leaves - these are programs that are hiring the Skip Holtz's of the world.  He just needs to find a capable offensive coordinator and staff his next go around.

GoBlueInNYC

November 1st, 2014 at 10:11 AM ^

I think it's crazy for a Michigan fan of all people to make the claim that "it's actually difficult [to fail]." It's insanely easy to fail at college football anywhere. That's why good coaches are at such a premium; even some coaches good at one place can't recreate that success at other places.

BIGBLUEWORLD

November 1st, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^

The situation in college ball is fluid and dynamic; players continually cycling through: you develop an edge and your opponents come right back at you with an answer. Peple like Bear Bryant and Bo, who sustain a program through a decade of excellence, are few and far between.

Nevertheless, our next coach is going to find a way to do exactly that. Right? 

Double-D

November 1st, 2014 at 10:00 AM ^

Has a great reputation as a high character guy and has defended the high powered SEC very well.  I am sure he could recruit the South.  He would be a great hire.  

 

What about Mattison?  Would he stay if it was Harbaugh and would you want him to stay?  He may not want this to be his last chapter at Michigan.   His defenses have been good but maddening at times.

alum96

November 1st, 2014 at 10:05 AM ^

A couple of points

  • Personally I do not want GMatt to remain.  He has a pretty experienced defense this year and it ranked 10th in the Big 10 in defensive FEI and 6th in S&P+ (only a few pts away from 8th).  We expected 2nd or 3rd best in the Big 10. 
  • I think the whole stench needs to be cleared right now from this program, even if some innocent casualties get taken out.  I'd make an exception for Manning.
  • Gmatt basically said he came here for Hoke and no other reason.
  • Harbaugh is hard on coordinators and position coaches - if you dont succeed you are gone right away. 
  • Muschamp is 43, Gmatt is 65.
  • Muschamp will give us a southern exposure like we have never had.

GoBlueInNYC

November 1st, 2014 at 10:20 AM ^

I agree, he would be a great hire. I was at Texas for grad school during his UT years, and was actually really disappointed at the time that the whole "coach in waiting" behind Mack Brown situation didn't work out. That was probably for the best, in the end. But I'd love to have Muschamp up in AA as DC.

As for Mattison...I don't know. Michigan could do better, but they could do worse. The defense is, in my opinion, underperforming relative to talent level, but they aren't bad*. There are some decisions made this past year that really makes me question him (e.g., moving your star LB to a new position in his fifth year; running a press man coverage D when you have a former LB coaching CBs and your DL has trouble getting to the QB). I don't think those are changes for the sake of changes, I think there's a clear logic there, but they're still questionable choices all the same.

*I don't remember how things like FEI are calculated off the top of my head, but my off the cuff thoughts about the D's stats is that they tend to start (both in game, but also kind of scaled up to the whole season) pretty staunch but as the O continues to be horribly ineffective, the D slowly gives up the ghost and give up a ton of late yards and points. Which maybe speaks to a certain lack of fortitude, which is obviously a symptom of poor coaching.

BIGBLUEWORLD

November 1st, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^

The very poor S&C coaching which the players receive is more critcal, for both incidence of injuries and athletic performance, than most people realize. The current diary "Improving Athletic performance" has lots of information on this subject.

GoBlueInNYC

November 1st, 2014 at 10:55 AM ^

I don't think the D quitting down the stretch is necessarily a S&C issue, but I do catch myself having a general feeling that I'm watching boys among men sometimes watching Hoke's teams. I know next to nothing about S&C approaches and what UM is or isn't doing, so that's admittedly a huge blind spot for me. 

Do you know where I can find Bacon's comments about M players and NFL scouts? I hadn't heard that before, and I'd be interested to see what they were saying.

Sarasota13

November 1st, 2014 at 10:11 AM ^

Play? Yes, the defense is the team's strong suit; however, the defensive talent has not lived up to expectations. That maybe due to an offense that is worse than Michigan's, but do not expect him to be a high level DC for a few years.

HAIL-YEA

November 1st, 2014 at 10:41 AM ^

like to have Mattison stay if he wanted. Say what you want about his defenses slightly underperforming.. the guy can fucking recruit. Also I feel like weak position coaches and a crap strength and conditioning program have been his problems here, along with an offense that keeps putting them in bad positions.

adcough

November 1st, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^

no way Mattison should be retained. name one good offense that his defense has been able to slow.

with the power of the people displayed in recent days, i hope that this sentiment is shared by other "stakeholders" and is fanned to the max.

no way he should stay. no way.

Mr. Yost

November 1st, 2014 at 10:48 AM ^

And don't even bat an eye...

However, I don't think he's done being a HC if he wants to be.

If you're Tulsa or Tulane or something in that range, would you not hire him?

ironman4579

November 1st, 2014 at 11:41 AM ^

Might want to recheck those numbers for 2010 and 2011. It would be nearly impossible to have rushing and passing D in the 40's and 50's and have a top 10 total D. Texas and Florida both had top 10 pass defenses those years.

ironman4579

November 5th, 2014 at 7:23 PM ^

It really isn't.  They're giving rush defense, total defense and then pass efficiency defense, which is what they are calling passer rating allowed. They are not using actual pass defense, ie number of yards per game allowed. If you look at CFB Stats, Texas was a top 10 pass defense in 2010 Florida was a top 10 pass defense in 2011.

Mpfnfu Ford

November 1st, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^

Muschamp has seemed so unfit to be a head coach. I agree with the feller up in the thread who thinks Muschamp will probably be a coordinator for the rest of his career. Not because nobody will ever kick his tires again for a job - the UVAs and Illinois of the world aren't scared of retreads - but because he just didn't seem cut out for it or to actually enjoy being responsible for stuff that wasn't defense. 

I think anyone who hires him as a DC is making a great move I'd love to see Michigan get him for that position, but he seems like he's more comfortable down south and there's going to be open DC jobs. 

HoosierMP33

November 1st, 2014 at 5:36 PM ^

Muschamp is a great coordinator; terrible head coach....of course the 2nd-tier head coaching jobs at the likes of a Virginia/North Carolina/South Carolina will always be an option for him....but his days of being a head coach at major program are gone until he proves himself....that being said....

He is an EXCELLENT recruiter....He has recruited the states of Texas and Florida very well...and youth is on his side as well....He such a well respected coach/recruiter/coordinator, that I would not be surprised to see him pull a Lane Kiffin and land under a big name coach as a DC for a few years to hit the reset button...in fact, IF Kirby Smart leaves Alabama for a HC job somewhere this off-season, I could see Muschamp taking the DC spot at Alabama under Saban; just like Kiffin has for the OC job....

In fact, in my perfect world scenario for Michigan, I would love to see Jim Harbaugh come be our HC, hire Kiffin as our OC, and Muschamp as our DC....Tell me if 2 of those 3 sat down in the living room of a kid, they wouldn't take the scholarship offer....Our team would be high energy, high confidence (which is something we have been lacking since the Chad Henne/Mike Hart/Jake Long days), and very well coached on both sides of the ball....

The 3 headed monster of Harbaugh, Kiffin, and Muschamp would be running circles around Ohio St. and Mich St. in recruiting and on-field performance....