Omigawd! Rumor alert!
If Georgia fires football coach Mark Richt and comes hard after Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, would the Longhorns let him go? Maybe not.
A Texas source said over the weekend that UT might encourage Mack Brown to retire, that the ‘Horns might be ready to commence with the Muschamp era. Not because of any dissatisfaction of Brown, but because of a belief in Muschamp. That’s the extent of Texas’ devotion to Muschamp, who is in his third year as the UT defensive coordinator and has been designated Brown’s successor.
First off, I doubt the folks running UT’s athletic department are that insane. So, is the feeling that Coach Boom MF would bolt for redder pastures at his alma mater? Mebbe.
… But it would make perfect sense for Muschamp to go to Georgia job, which is a great job and a great fit for Muschamp. Muschamp, 39, grew up in Rome, Ga., and was a walkon safety at Georgia before entering coaching. Muschamp was a successful defensive coordinator at LSU and Auburn, so his SEC roots run deep.
Well, maybe not too deep.
… If Muschamp wants the Texas job, he still could take the Georgia job. Go to Georgia, do well and Texas will come calling when Brown decides to quit. Muschamp is incredibly popular in Texas, which is why some think he should be elevated at Brown’s expense.
I cannot even begin to fathom the level of Dawgnation angst that scenario would create if it were to play out. Our fan base would make Tennessee’s reaction to Kiffin’s departure look like a slight shrug of the shoulders.
(h/t EDSBS)
Get The Picture 
I would prefer a coach with head coaching experience at the top level. Or near the top level, anyway.
In fact, maybe we should just keep the guy we have.
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So what happens to Grantham if we bring in a DC as the HC?
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I imagine that Grantham would be gone. Muschamp would originally act as his own defensive coordinator. Then the fans would feel that we lost a game because he was too focused on the defense and not acting as CEO of the team. He would then appoint the current secondary coach as defensive coordinator. This former assistant would grow increasingly worse as defensive coordinator until UGA fans felt that he was the worst defensive coordinator in division 1, at which point, the fans would want Muschamp back as defensive coordinator, assuming he didn’t get fired as HC for having an off year or two after making the changes originally called for by the fan base.
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+1 History Book.
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He has been given 5 entire games to prove those changes were successful! Get rid of him now and make a midseason trade of Grantham for Smart to Bama.
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I love you. +10
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Agreed with Scorpio’s 1st point but the 2nd remains to be known.
If a new Coach is needed Mullen is at the top of my short list.
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WTF do you know? You’re just a dog.
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Can we plase stop pining for Muschamp? Texas is only as good as it’s QB. His D has been mostly solid but hardly spectacular given the talent they bring in. And Texas has him on their HC radar. I love Georgia but given the option, I’d take Texas job in a heartbeat. You get just as much talent-flow and a lot easier acces to Conference championships. I think I could learn to live in the hippie version of Texas (Austin) for a cushy job like that. If we’re not a silver medal to him, I’ll be shocked.
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He’s not just on Texas’ head coaching radar, he’s got the job. Texas has signed him to be their next head coach, and they owe him a mid-sized tropical island if they hire anyone else when Mack Brown calls it quits. No idea if he’s got a buyout on that, but if he wants the Texas job, he has it. No idea if he’s still got red and black in his blood, but I guess he could theoretically take our job, depending on the buyout.
But the real point is that this is idle speculation from a bored columnist. I don’t think Texas fan is stupid enough to want to force out a proven head coach in Mack Brown just to elevate an unproven head coach in Will Muschamp, who, by the way, still has Rick Neuheisel’s foot lodged directly in his ass. I’m sure they don’t want to lose Muschamp, but at the same time, the devil you know is better than the one you don’t. Who knows if Will Muschamp can handle that job? Nobody. But they do know that Mack Brown can win championships there.
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Be careful what you wish for is an apt title to this article. Everyone should think hard about what Alabama went through between Gene Stallings and Nick Saban (and remember that Mike Price was widely thought to be a real up and comer in the coaching world because of several very good seasons as head coach at Washington State). Look at Tennessee where they played for the SEC championship in 2007, fired Fulmer after 08 because of a bad season and general Vol feeling that they needed new blood, and are now a disaster that will take years to fix.
For all of those persons screaming for Richt to get the boot because there is no way that he can right the ship and get this team winning again, I offer in contradiction to that thought process our very own Vince Dooley. In 1972, 73, and 74 the Dawgs went 20-14-1. After the 74 season there were Dump Dooley bumper stickers on cars. Bama, by contrast, won every SEC championship in the 1970s except for one. In 1977 Georgia had its first and only losing season under Dooley. Dooley made the changes that needed to be made in 78 (scrapped the offense for one) and came within a tie to Auburn of winning the SEC championship. After the 1979 season finishing 6-5 and unranked, Coach Dooley won three consecutive SEC championships and a national championship and finished in the top five in the nation four straight years.
I’m not saying that CVD’s situation is totally the same as Richt’s. It’s a different era in college football. What I am saying is that I believe that things can be turned around by Richt. And if Richt is not the man that can do this job then so be it, but for everyone jumping up and down to get a new coaching staff in here, I hope that you’re ready for some really dark days ahead before things MIGHT get better.
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Soooo, all Richt needs to do to turn it around is get the greatest college football player ever to sign with Georgia this year?
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Ok, T. Kyle King….
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Seriously… push Brown out just to keep Muschamp? That’s more idiotic than the ‘hot seat’ talk of Richt during the off season. I think Mac avgs like 12 wins a season
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Yeah, but Muschamp averages 13 future-wins per season.
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Yeah, but Kirby Smart averages 14 future wins per season.
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Look, this kind of talk is going to happen when you have a young QB, no running game, inconsistent defense despite being led by a rockstar DC, playmakers that aren’t making plays, fans screaming about the ineptness of the OC, a run of success this past decade, and you’ve just had your hat handed to you two weeks in a row by teams you thought you were going to beat going into the season because of the program’s reputation for stellar recruiting, alumni $$$, facilities, etc.
But that’s Texas. We’ve got our own problems too.
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+1
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Brilliant Post is Brilliant
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I am completely sick and tired of hearing about how UTK should be our warning when it comes to the decision before our University. Not only did Fulmer reach the SEC championship a year previous to his firing (which Mark Richt has not done now for 5 years), Fulmer also kept a winning record against SEC foes (which Richt has failed to do). Additionally, who is to say the UGA administration would go out and hire a Kiffin. They wouldn’t (although Kiffin wasn’t exactly a failure, anyone remember 45-19?) And now that they have hired Dooley, although he might not be Saban or Meyer 2.0, they have hired someone that put a fire back into the players. We don’t have that. Not only did the off season of hiring not do that to the program, neither does the constant “We will continue down the same path” talk by Richt.
He continues to put off decisions until years too late. If this football program wants to continue in the direction Richt started it in when he was first hired, we too cannot wait until the decision comes too late. I am and always will be appreciative of the wins he gave the program, but the argument that he was successful in the past shouldn’t protect his future. Once he got us back into the national discussion, positive things occurred; however, we are out of that talk the program should appreciate what Richt has done and find someone that can produce where the coach has left off. Let’s forget about the example UTK has set (even though honestly its not that bad). Let’s look at a team that is 1-4 with enough talent to have not lost a game this year. It is one thing to have an upset that is not expected every year, it is another to have total collapses year in and year out leading the program to failure from achieving the highest level.
More important than the talk of giving time to Richt to right the ship should be the question of, “When has a coach already in place turned around a failing program?” There are not many if any examples. However, it is easy to find places where new coaches take a program to the next level when the last regime wasn’t quite getting the job done. If Richt was simply keeping the program floating at 10 wins per season, then it would be understandable not wanting to rid our program of him, but he is not sustaining, the football team has gotten progressively worse. We have become a joke, if you don’t believe me, move somewhere where UGA football isn’t the preference to all of those around you. I had someone ask me the other day, “Why did Colorado rush the field after beating y’all? UGA is terrible.” Man, that feels good, and there have been more of those moments in the past five than there have been about how good UGA looks on Saturday.
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If we’ve become that much of a joke outside of Georgia then just why did Colorado rush the field on us, a 1-4 team? Maybe the word hasn’t gotten out in that part of the country yet.
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I think he meant somewhere in the SEC where football matters? I’m not real sure Colorado counts. People need to stop accepting mediocre and making inane arguments in cynical tones to support their positions.
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And some people need to quit jumping to conclusions. What about my comment makes you think that I accept mediocre and just what position do you think I support? Yes, this team is not living up to expectations and they stink pretty bad right now, but obviously the Georgia Bulldog name still has some clout. If it didn’t you wouldn’t have seen the Colorado fans rush the field when the team they just beat is 1-4. My only point was to rebut the statement that “We have become a joke, if you don’t believe me, move somewhere where UGA football isn’t the preference to all of those around you.” Well, Colorado is a place where UGA football isn’t the preference. Obviously Georgia football wasn’t a joke to them when they rushed the field. Maybe they just rush the field anytime they win, which isn’t often.
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What you think and what you hope are 2 different things.
What every Dawg fan should hope for is that Richt gets a fire lit under him and we go on an historic run to 8-4, beating every rival we play and sneak into the SECCG as the first 5-3 team ever from the East. If you don’t hope for that, then give your tickets and your fandom to someone that really cares.
What we all think is different. I, for one, can’t really think about it until it’s all said and done. I’m not sure he can turn it around. I think he might have lost the team and his fire. But I don’t know that. I think Jim Harbaugh can spit on Meyer and Sabans shoes and laugh about while we hang half a hundred on them. But I don’t know that.
But…I know we’re playing UT on Saturday. I know beating them will make me feel a little better. I know winning in Jax will make me fell a lot better. And I hope that happens. But I certainly can’t judge it till it’s done. Richt has totally screwed up 5 games. He’ll get his shot at the next 7 and we’ll see what happens.
I just hope my hopes are right.
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^this
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Amen.
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http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1135005
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looks like A.A. had us too high.
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The idea that he would run away from UGA to UT is laughable and most if not ALL Texas fans with half a brain know that
But it is a cool thing to say over the internet b/c it makes them feel better about their program
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Perhaps even more laughable is that he would leave the Texas job in the first place to come to Georgia. Let’s see…recruiting – Texas; alumni support – Texas; recent success – Texas. Oh, and current talent level at the particular school is clearly with Texas. What else…right, the schedule for the foreseeable future is daunting for a new coach trying to get it started to say the least. I’m not in favor of a new coach that has no HC experience, but anyone that doesn’t have serious reservations about coming to Athens in the current state of affairs should have his head examined because it could well be the torpedo in what might be a good career.
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As you know, I still work in the Georgia Athletic Department (if only for a few more days).
Let’s just say I know some pretty important people and I can tell you all this is bull$#!+.
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Those pushing Dooley’s stats from the 70s are living in the past. Recruiting was far more home grown with most kids from the state wanting to remain in the state for UGA or GT whichever they had ties to.
In today’s world families are transient with ties to multiple areas.
Also the media did not have near the power it does now. What kind of recruiting coverage was there in the 70s? Who held out after signing day? Walker was one of the 1st to hold out past signing day in ’79. How many recruit ranking systems were there? Also how much money was riding on getting signed on for a coach that could showcase their talent for a million dollar NFL deal? The landscape has changed and the recruits have an idea on which coaches the press will fan the flames under the hot seat.
Changes (maybe new OC and S&C or the entire staff) must be put in place by the end of the year or recruiting will start to fall off greatly. See UT or Auburn for their lack of depth. Auburn only survived 1 really bad year under Tubby.
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