12/3 Update: 10:30 p.m. ET – According to college football insider Bruce Feldman, former Florida head coach Will Muschamp is close to reaching an agreement to become the new defensive coordinator at Auburn. Feldman said Wednesday night that both sides are ironing out the details for how the whole coaching staff would look, possibly meaning that Muschamp will try to bring some assistant coaches on board.
Will Muschamp deal to #Auburn getting closer but still some staffing issue needs to be smoothed out, per source.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 4, 2014
Original article:
There are so many new defensive coordinator openings in college football and the ones that are the most visible are the ones in the Southeastern Conference. Will Muschamp has been a defensive coordinator in the Big 12 at Texas, but he’s also been the defensive coordinator at multiple SEC programs before becoming the head coach at Florida.
Now that Muschamp has been fired by Florida, where will he land as a defensive coordinator? Three schools seem to stand out from the crowd.
1. Auburn Tigers (Defensive Coordinator)
Once Auburn let go of former defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, this has seemed like Muschamp’s job for the taking. Auburn is one of two SEC schools where Muschamp previously served as defensive coordinator. He knows the school and he knows how to recruit.
With the Texas A&M Aggies struggling more than Auburn has the past two seasons, Muschamp might feel that he’s closer to competing for national championships at Auburn. Gus Malzahn already handles the dynamic offense that could pair well with Muschamp calling the shots on the defense, potentially getting Auburn back into the national title game.
2. Texas A&M Aggies (Defensive Coordinator)
The key point to mention in relationship of the Muschamp-Texas A&M possibility is that when Muschamp was coaching at Texas as the defensive coordinator, the Longhorns competed in the same conference with the Aggies and met Texas A&M at the end of every season. Now that A&M has moved to the SEC and does not play Texas each season, there might be less of a concern from Muschamp’s end about coaching in College Station. It’s kind of like breaking up with an ex and then having to see her regularly.
Muschamp has a basic choice to make: does he want to work for Kevin Sumlin at A&M or does he want to work for Gus Malzahn at Auburn? Given that Sumlin has familiarity with the state of Texas, having previously been the head coach at the University of Houston, Muschamp might view A&M as the more comfortable and agreeable landing place for him. It’s a strong contender but at the same time, the Aggies could really use him as they have the worst defense in the SEC. Currently, they’re allowing a whopping 449 yards per game. That’s a far cry from the 312.3 and 321.2 that Alabama and Missouri allow. Not coincidentally, those are the two teams that are playing in the SEC Championship Game this week.
3. South Carolina Gamecocks (Defensive Coordinator)
The wild card or dark horse here is South Carolina. Muschamp might feel that being a coordinator in the SEC East, instead of the much tougher SEC West, will give him more of a chance to be successful. And being more successful means that he’ll get back to head coaching sooner rather than later.
The idea that Muschamp could go from Florida to an SEC East rival is less likely than going to an SEC West school. However, South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier used to coach at Florida and he went to an SEC East school. Muschamp could join Spurrier in what would be a fascinating pairing of colorful coaches. South Carolina has a number of problems but Muschamp might feel that he is in a good position to fix them next season. If Spurrier is retiring in a few years, Muschamp might feel that he’ll have a chance to break back into head coaching in Columbia.
