SEC Coaching Rankings: No. 14 Will Muschamp

With the SEC football season just a few months away, here’s a look at how the conference’s coaches rank in 2016.

Bio: Guess who’s back? Will Muschamp, who spent four years as Florida’s head coach before being fired and spending a disappointing season as Auburn’s defensive coordinator in 2014. He’s now South Carolina’s new head coach.

Muschamp’s tenure in Gainesville reached a high point during his second season when he led Florida to an SEC East division title and an 11-2 (7-1 SEC) finish in 2012. But his final two years saw a combined 10-13 (7-9) record, leading to his firing.

Reason For Ranking: The idea of Will Muschamp at South Carolina is absolutely preposterous. South Carolina was the worst team in the SEC last season. Now,  the Gamecocks have the worst coach, although interim Shawn Elliott would have been as well.

But instead of finding a promising name from a smaller conference, the Gamecocks hired someone another SEC program deemed unsuitable to coach in its conference. Not only that, but Muschamp is coming off his worst season as a coordinator. Auburn ranked thirteenth in the SEC in total defense in 2015. The only team worse? South Carolina.

That one spot must’ve really impressed the Gamecocks brass because it was enough to offer Muschamp a head coaching gig. The only logical aspect of the hiring is that Muschamp is a good recruiter, which was ultimately Spurrier’s downfall in his later years. The Head Ball Coach’s lack of interest in recruiting blue chip defensive talent — post-Jadeveon Clowney — is the reason why South Carolina is the SEC’s worst team.

Muschamp has been able to land big defensive prospects at each of his former jobs, but it’s much more difficult to sell a kid on South Carolina as opposed to Auburn, Florida or Texas.

2016 Schedule: 

Date		Opponent
Thursday Sep. 1		at Vanderbilt Commodores Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, TN
Saturday Sep. 10		at Mississippi State Bulldogs Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, MS
Saturday Sep. 17		East Carolina Pirates Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
Saturday Sep. 24		at Kentucky Wildcats Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, KY
Saturday Oct. 1		Texas A&M Aggies Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
Saturday Oct. 8		Georgia Bulldogs Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
Saturday Oct. 15	—	OFF
Saturday Oct. 22		UMass Minutemen Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
Saturday Oct. 29		Tennessee Volunteers Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
Saturday Nov. 5		Missouri Tigers Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
Saturday Nov. 12		at Florida Gators Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, FL
Saturday Nov. 19		Western Carolina Catamounts Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
Saturday Nov. 26		at Clemson Tigers Memorial Stadium, Clemson, SC

2016 Outlook: Make no mistake about it, this is a bad football team. South Carolina doesn’t have a clear cut starting quarterback, although all signs point to a healthy Connor Mitch. Pharoh Cooper, the Gamecocks’ best offensive player for the past two seasons, opted to forego his senior season by declaring for the NFL Draft — which saw him go to the St. Louis Rams in the fourth round.

Then there’s the defense. As noted, South Carolina was the worst defensive unit in the SEC. Having Muschamp should improve that, but as we saw with Auburn in 2014, he’s not a miracle worker. Ultimately, he will need to get the right personnel to find success, but South Carolina should see some improvement in 2016.

Aside from matchups against East Carolina (Sept. 17), UMass (Oct. 22) and Western Carolina (Nov. 19), there are no obvious wins for the Gamecocks in 2016. Vanderbilt (Sept. 1) and Kentucky (Sept. 24) are winnable games, but they’re both on the road.

It’s hard to see this team being bowl eligible at season’s end or rising from the bottom of the SEC rankings in 2016.

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