Muschamp's run at UF was an interesting phenomenon for me. When he was hired I was thinking we'd gotten a good coach who was also a hometown guy since he grew up in Gainesville and would have probably played for UF had Spurrier not blown his family off when they came to visit for a walk on opportunity. As such I was really pulling for him even going into that last year. Credit where credit is due too he really did fix a broken and toxic culture which Meyer let develop in that last year he phoned in before leaving to 'spend time with the family'.
Ironically where he finally lost me as a coach was in that last game against USCe. I'm a loyal guy so I kept hoping he (and Driskel for that matter) would magically turn a corner but after that game I finally couldn't ignore the fact of how snake bit he'd become and how deeply over his head he was. Where he lost any lingering support from me post UF was from a combination of his seeming relish in sticking it to us in recruiting after he moved to Auburn and from all the statements he made trying to take some credit for Coach Mac's accomplishments even though it was so crystal clear how very bare he'd left the offensive and special teams cupboards. He even helped drive off all the remaining QBs on the roster after he knew he was out but before he was out the door which left us with only Harris behind Grier and we all know how disastrous that ended up being.
I think I am starting to finally get what's behind all his issues now, however, based partly on the tone of this article, his general actions and comments on and off the field and especially after reading the post about him calling into a radio talk show after a 4-8 season. These incidents indicate, to me at least, that he has a base level of insecurity which probably traces back to his being an over achieving walk on and maybe even before that. Though that was probably a great asset for motivating him to be an overachiever as an athlete, it actually works against him as a coach because it undermines his confidence in making decisions as a head coach.
One of the biggest differences between being an athlete and being a HC is that so much more of a HC's job is outside of one's direct control. A Div-1 football coach has to be supremely confident in his own personal formula of how he wants to conduct his program. That was one of the first areas Muschamp fooled me early on as I bought into his readiness based on his 'first 100 days' list he had supposedly been compiling for years in preparation for his first HC gig. Coach Mac, in contrast, clearly had a real plan in mind and therefore didn't need to share that fact with anyone. He just executed it. Similarly Muschamp frequently talked about his efforts to change the culture while Coach Mac's efforts were also very execution based. In fact, as others have noted, it looks to me like Coach Mac uses the media and other outward communication outlets as just another tool to further his cause because he is fully confident in his methodology and is willing to live or die by it without any concern toward what anyone else thinks. That is what big time coaches do and it is also why I think Coach Mac is so highly endorsed by Saban. The really good coaches know that they have to be the captain of their ships which requires a deep conviction in their chosen course as well as a deep ability to craft a staff that is fully committed to that course so that they can be trusted to carry out their assignments without needing constant supervision. I am also much more confident in Coach Mac especially because I now have a much better idea of what a good coach isn't so I have much more to base my opinion on where he is concerned and so far I really like what I see (all the constant whining from the recruiting dumpers notwithstanding).
Based on this article and other factors I've observed I really don't think Muschamp has figured any of that out yet and I am not sure he is capable of doing so either. I believe Muschamp's insecurities cause him to be a micromanager who is prone to panic in game time situations which in turn causes him to take over control of areas he is less capable of overseeing. This also explains why he is a great defensive recruiter but a mediocre at best offensive recruiter because with defense he can micromanage successfully but for offense he is out of his element so his micromanaging style proves counter-productive. I am therefore now very happy he is gone and I view him as a well intentioned but clearly failed experiment. It is good for everyone involved that he is no longer UF's problem to deal with.
