What if Steve Spurrier Never Left the Florida Gators?

Apr 18, 2015; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers defensive coordinator Will Muschamp watches his squad during the A-Day game at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Where would Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain be?

Ron Zook would likely be exactly where he is now without the experience he was given as a head coach. He’d be an assistant coach in the NFL.

But Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain would have still built up their profiles as Nick Saban disciples.

Starting with Muschamp, he likely would have had everything go exactly the same until the end of 2010. At that point, he probably would have been hired somewhere else, unless he wanted to wait for the Georgia job to open up or stay in his position as the coach-in-waiting at Texas. Remember, Muschamp decided against Tennessee the year before, so it’s not like he would not turn down high-profile jobs.

In all of those scenarios, the most likely is that Mack Brown would have been forced out and Muschamp would have taken the job with Texas. So the Longhorns would be all defense and no offense, just like Florida, and much less of a threat than they will be with Charlie Strong.

McElwain, meanwhile, would have probably stayed at Colorado State. Florida would obviously still have Spurrier, Michigan had their man in Jim Harbaugh, and Wisconsin had their man in Paul Chryst. The only other job better than the one he was at that was open was Nebraska, and you’d have to be a fool to take that job.

Plus, they still may have gone for Mike Riley. So McElwain would have to wait another year for his opportunity.

Next: Would Tim Tebow have gone to Florida?