By: Zachary E. Gonzalez

The Problem  Will Muschamp has underachieved tremendously for the most part during his four-year tenure as the Gator head coach  In four seasons, he has accumulated a overall record and his Gator teams are in SEC play (Alligator Army)  In 2013, his injury-plagued Gator squad went 4-8. This was Florida’s first losing season since 1979 and the first time the team had not reached a bowl game since 1991.

Some Bad Losses  homecoming loss to Vanderbilt in 2013 First time Vanderbilt had beat UF in Gainesville since 1945  loss to FCS foe Georgia Southern in The Swamp in 2013 Georgia Southern did not complete a single pass this game!  37-7 loss to Florida State in The Swamp in 2013 Muschamp’s Gator teams have lost EIGHT games in the Swamp during his tenure. To put that in perspective Urban Meyer lost just FIVE games at The Swamp in five years and three of those came in his final year when he already knew he would be leaving Florida.

2014 Homecoming vs Mizzou  The Gators only gave up 119 yards in this game and still lost 42-13! (Gatorzone.com)  According to Rece Davis, sports anchor/reporter for ESPN, teams that have given up less than 120 yards in the last 10 years are Those two losses belong to Will Muschamp Florida teams. The first time was in 2011 against FSU.

One-Sided Rivalries  Against rivals Florida State, LSU, and Georgia, Muschamp has a record of 3-8 (ESPN.com) Even Ron Zook, who was before Muschamp probably the worst head coach in Gator football history, had at least a 4-5 record against the Seminoles, Tigers, and Bulldogs combined.

The offense has been dreadful  Muschamp has gone through three offensive coordinators in the last four season  The best the Gators have finished offensively under Muschamp is 103 rd in 2012 (ESPN.com).  The play calling is conservative, as evidenced from the South Carolina game, Muschamp has a “play not to lose mentality” that blew up in his face when a field goal and punt were blocked late in the game. Charlie Weiss (2011)Brent Pease ( ) Kurt Roper ( ??)

Coaching style  Run first, pass second  Rarely throws the ball downfield  The offense has never had any zest during the Muschamp Era  Offensive play calling is too predictable. As Tim Tebow puts it: “I don't think the offense has an identity right now, and I don't think that they know what they want their identity to be," (ESPN.com)

Player Development  Will Muschamp has done a horrendous job at developing the talent he has recruited All his recruiting classes since 2011 have been ranked 5 th, 7 th, and 9 th, respectively. However, none of that talent has translated into major success on the field (Rivals.com) Just look at Jeff Driskel, who was the #1 QB prospect coming out of high school in 2011 (Yahoo! Sports) He will end his career as a backup to Treon Harris

The Solution  The Florida Gators will be great once again and start winning once they cut ties with Muschamp.  If history repeats itself, this next coach will take Florida back to the promise land.

The Process: Coaching Candidates  With Muschamp gone, the hunt for a new coach begins  According to Bruce Feldman of foxports.com, some big names out there are Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, and Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez  All three of these coaches have had success at their respective universities and Dan Mullen has UF ties since he was the offensive coordinator here from

Candidates Cont.  According to college football analyst Barrett Salle of BleacherReport.com, the top five candidates for the head coaching job from #5 to #1 are:  5) Colorado State head coach Jim McElwain  4) Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin  3) Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris  2) Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen, and  1) Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez McElwainKiffinMorrisMullen Rodriguez

The Resumes  McElwain: Has his Colorado State Rams at 9-1.  Kiffin: Has resurrected his coaching career and rejuvenated the Alabama offense.  Morris: Has Clemson ranked 61 st out of 125 teams in total offense and 39 th in passing yards.  Mullen: Had led Mississippi State to a 10-1 record and in contention for an SEC West title.  Rodriguez: Had built Arizona into a powerhouse and has them in contention for the Pac-12.

The Argument for Muschamp

The team was disciplined under Muschamp  In the Meyer Era, 31 Gator players were arrested as opposed to the 15 of the Muschamp Era according to a Gator Country article written September 26,  The Gator football team was left in major disarray after Meyer left and Muschamp did a phenomenal job at coming in and making Florida a clean program.  If there is anything Muschamp could do right, it was run a clean program.

The 11-2 Season of 2012  2012 was Muschamp’s second year as head coach and his best as the Gators almost won the SEC East and appeared in the Sugar Bowl.  However, if we take a closer look at this season, we will see that the Gator defense led the way while the offense did just enough.

11-2 Season Cont.  The Gator defense was ranked 5 th in the nation while the offense was ranked 103 rd. This was the highest the offense has ever been ranked in the Muschamp Era prior to this season (Gatorzone.com).

Then the 2013 Sugar Bowl happened

The 2013 Sugar Bowl  When the Gators just missed out on going to the National Championship, they essentially gave up on the season as they went into the Sugar Bowl and got handled by underdog Louisville.  In 2009, when Meyer’s #1 ranked Gators lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship, he got his team prepared for the Sugar Bowl and they routed a good Cincinnati team (Gatorzone.com).

Muschamp’s Defense  Yes, Muschamp’s defense was his pride and joy, but in today’s SEC, scoring points matters. It doesn’t matter how great your defense is, when you turn the ball over consistently like the Gators did against Missouri and many others, then you cannot win. Against Alabama, Muschamp’s phenomenal defense gave up a school record 672 yards (Gatorzone.com). However, I do not fault them completely as the lack of offense kept them on the field for nearly 90% of the game!

Impact on Recruiting  According to an Orlando Sentinel article written on November 16, 2014, none of the nine prospects from Muschamp’s 2015 recruiting class have changed their minds yet.  Many recruits have offered their condolences to Muschamp with wide receiver Kalif Jackson saying “I’m still committed to the University of Florida.”

Impact on Recruiting Cont.  Defensive end CeCe Jackson told ESPN.com “As long as Coach Lawing is there, I’m still considering.” Coach Brad Lawing is the assistant head coach and defensive line coach at the University of Florida.  Other recruits like offensive tackle Martez Ivey and athlete Ryan Davis said that a coaching change will not impact their decision regarding UF.

Picture this…  The Gators keep Muschamp for the 2015 season The players continue to stay out of trouble. Florida continues to dominate on defense while doing the bare minimum on offense to get by.

 Now imagine this, Muschamp stays and the exact same thing happens again. The Gators lose a few games that they should have won and Muschamp ends up on the hot seat once again. However, he wins one big game against Georgia, LSU, or maybe even Florida State and then everybody hails him as a hero and forgets about the losses.

 The cycle continues on and on until the Gators become so mediocre that they have to leave the SEC to play in an easier conference.  All respect for the University of Florida’s football team will be gone at this point and the Gators will be a team that everybody will be trying to schedule for homecoming.

Conclusion:  Will Muschamp is the worst coach in the history of Gator football. His Gator teams have found ways to lose games in the most unfathomable of ways and he brought the program to its lowest point in decades with a 4-8 season in  The team’s lack of offensive production reflects Muschamp’s conservative mindset as he rather run the ball all day and only throw when it is absolutely necessary.  If this is not enough, his lack of player development is quite evident in the self-destruction of a once promising Jeff Driskel who came into college in the same class as players like Johnny Manziel, Marcus Mariota, and Teddy Bridgewater

References  Barlis, Jeff. "Tim Tebow: Gators Lack identity." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 22 Oct Web. 15 Nov  "Boom: Will Muschamp "dismissed" by Florida, Will Coach Final Two Games, per Reports." Alligator Army. Web. 15 Nov muschamp-fired-florida-gators-dismissed. muschamp-fired-florida-gators-dismissed  "Florida Gators Fire Will Muschamp: Rich Rodriguez, Gus Malzahn, Bob Stoops among next Options." FOX Sports. Web. 15 Nov

References Cont.  "Florida Gators vs Georgia Bulldogs: In Defense of Coach Will Muschamp." Hail Florida Hail Florida Gators vs Georgia Bulldogs In Defense of Coach Will Muschamp Comments. Web. 15 Nov  "Florida Recruits Not Bailing on Gators despite Muschamp Firing." OrlandoSentinel.com. Web. 15 Nov  "Gators AD Jeremy Foley: Will Muschamp Will Get Entire Season to Prove Himself." OrlandoSentinel.com. Web. 15 Nov

References Cont.  "Gator Football Boxscores - GatorZone.com." Gator Football Boxscores - GatorZone.com. Web. 15 Nov  "Jeff Driskel." - Yahoo! Sports. Web. 15 Nov

References Cont.  "Missouri's 4 Different Return TDs Sink Florida." ESPN.com. Web. 15 Nov  "Muschamp Keeping the Florida Gators Clean | Gator Country." GatorCountrycom. Web. 15 Nov keeping-florida-gators-clean/. keeping-florida-gators-clean/  "Rushing Offense | FBS Football Statistics - NCAA.com." NCAA.com. Web. 17 Nov

References Cont.  "Team Passing Efficiency | FBS Football Statistics - NCAA.com." NCAA.com. Web. 15 Nov /p /p3  "Top Candidates to Replace Muschamp." Bleacher Report. Web. 15 Nov