South Carolina Football: Will Muschamp to be Gamecocks head coach

The South Carolina Gamecocks are expected to name former Florida head coach Will Muschamp as their head coach. Will it work out or blow up in their face?

Will Muschamp is headed back to the SEC East after agreeing in principle, according to Thayer Evans and Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated, who report the former head coach of the Florida Gators will be the head coach at South Carolina.

Related: 30 Best College Football Coaches of All-Time

Muschamp went 28–21 during four seasons at Florida, his first head coaching opportunity, including an 11-2 record and Sugar Bowl appearance in his second year. But his next two years were full of offensive ineptitude and Muschamp’s great defenses weren’t able to overcome quarterback issues and he was fired after the 2014 season.

He spent this season as the defensive coordinator with the Auburn Tigers, but they didn’t deliver on their preseason hype and finished a disappointing 6-6.

More from SEC

• Most heartwarming social media reactions to Nick Chubb’s injury
• College Football Playoff: Projected top 4 after Week 3
• Biggest winners and losers from College Football Week 3
• Florida Football: 3 takeaways from important win over Tennessee
• #10 Alabama football: 3 takeaways from close road win against USF

Muschamp’s defense was better than what Auburn had before his arrival, but the Tigers still finished near the bottom of the SEC in every meaningful defensive metric.

It was announced earlier in the week that Muschamp wouldn’t be returning to Auburn and he was considered the favorite to land the South Carolina job to replace Steve Spurrier who resigned midseason.

South Carolina also interviewed and apparently offered Arizona Wildcats head coach Rich Rodriguez, but when he tweeted Saturday night he was happy to be an Arizona Wildcat, it was inevitable Muschamp was the man for South Carolina.

I think this was the best option for South Carolina after missing out on hiring Kirby Smart and Tom Herman signed an extension to stay at Houston.

More from Saturday Blitz

• Michigan State vs. Maryland: Location, time, prediction, and more
• ACC Power Rankings: Can #4 FSU overthrow Clemson at Death Valley East?
• Most heartwarming social media reactions to Nick Chubb’s injury
• Ranking college football’s top 10 quarterbacks after Week 3
• Things are going to get much darker for the Houston Cougars

I think he learned a lot by failing and will take those lessons and apply them to his second chance job at South Carolina. He’s familiar with the division, the conference and the area to recruit.

It’s not like he forgot to coach after leading Florida to a 11-win season, right?

The last two years at Florida didn’t work out, but he was crippled by injuries to Jeff Driskel and then backup quarterback Tyler Murphy before turning to Skyler Mornhinweg. Muschamp tried in vain to fix his offense with three offensive coordinators in four seasons in Gainesville, so his offensive coordinator hire is imperative to avoiding the mistakes that ended his tenure in The Swamp.

Next: 50 Greatest College Football Rivalries of All-Time

South Carolina struggled mightily as they dropped from 11 wins each season from 2011-2013 to seven wins in 2014 to three wins this year, so it won’t be a quick fix for Muschamp. However, if he nails the offensive coordinator hire, you know his defenses will be stout and with two recruiting classes coming in, the Gamecocks will be back to competing for SEC East division titles.