Say what you will about Muschamp

Cocky99

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I thought that Spurrier should have hired Muschamp as D/C when he first got fired at Florida. At the time I didn’t fully realize that Spurrier was pretty much done here and didn’t have much interest in getting things back on track. I think this was 2014.

GA defense is insane. But Muschamp could also be the beneficiary of what Smart built prior to him getting hired. Bad head coach, probably a great DC to give credit where it’s due.

For the record- I was NOT excited about USC hiring Muschamp as HC. I made myself optimistic to give the guy a chance. What other option did I have? But pretty much everyone thought that would more than likely be a botched hire then a good one. FL fans were even baffled that TANNER picked him.
 
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FightinRooster

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I thought that Spurrier should have hired Muschamp as D/C when he first got fired at Florida. At the time I didn’t fully realize that Spurrier was pretty much done here. I think this was 2014.

Muschamp could also be the beneficiary of what Smart built prior to him getting hired.
I may be wrong but I thought Spurrier reached out but Muschamp turned him down.
 

1976MACC

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The most well paid DC (from 2 schools) in the history of college football.
 

BigJC

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Brown made him head coach in waiting at Texas he thought so much of him as DC. I think the consensus on Muschamp for years has been that he is a great defensive coach and a bad HC. Auburn was a tough gig because he was DC when Gus Bus was head coach and running that HS offense that was hurry up all the time. The D could never get enough time off of the field to rest because the O either scored fast or went three and out fast. By the middle of the third quarter the defense was gassed from being on the field all game.

Hiring him as HC after seeing what he had done at UF was another dumb move by us.
 

18IsTheMan

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Given his DC success, I always thought his SC defenses would have been better.
Give the man talent and he can put together a defense like no other. We obviously did not have the talent he was used to working with on defense, but, yeah, I expected more defensively.
 
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81 Alumnus

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Give the man talent and he can put together a defense like no other. We obviously did not have the talent he was used to working with on defense, but, yeah, I expected more defensively.
So WE should have GIVEN him more talent on defense? Along with the $15 mil golden parachute? The man who liked to brag that he "could sell ice cubes to eskimos" needed us to get him better players, huh?

And oh yeah, the guy before him recruited JD, DJ, Holloman, Melvin Ingram, Eric Norwood, Stephon Gilmore etc. It breaks my heart that we didn't GIVE a sweetheart like Chump that level of talent. Anyone got a kleenex?
 

Go Gamecocks

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Smart was DC at 'Bama for 8 years. I would never give Muschamp credit for that defense.
 

athenscock3

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The man knows defense.
If you have the talent U G A has,it’s a lot easier to coach but they did have clever schemes to keep ucheat from hitting so many home run passes like they has done to less talented teams. Plus those huge talented front lineman in Hookers face put the hurt on him. Unfortunately, we have nowhere near that upfront talent now nor when Muscham p was here.
 

18IsTheMan

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So WE should have GIVEN him more talent on defense? Along with the $15 mil golden parachute? The man who liked to brag that he "could sell ice cubes to eskimos" needed us to get him better players, huh?

And oh yeah, the guy before him recruited JD, DJ, Holloman, Melvin Ingram, Eric Norwood, Stephon Gilmore etc. It breaks my heart that we didn't GIVE a sweetheart like Chump that level of talent. Anyone got a kleenex?
I’m not arguing why we didn’t have a greater talent level. Fact is, we didn’t.
 

Maxcy

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Give the man talent and he can put together a defense like no other. We obviously did not have the talent he was used to working with on defense, but, yeah, I expected more defensively.

I'd guess that 50% of the DC's out there would look like world beaters with UGA's defensive talent...not to mention that Smart is the HC, and presumably very involved in both defensive planning and play calls.
 

Taco73

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From what I heard at the time, Muschamp wanted Spurrier to stay as HC for 2-3 more years for the transition. Spurrier didn't want to give that guarantee.
That would have been awesome. Champ could have taken over for recruiting. That may have helped Spurrier stay longer.
 
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18IsTheMan

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I'd guess that 50% of the DC's out there would look like world beaters with UGA's defensive talent...not to mention that Smart is the HC, and presumably very involved in both defensive planning and play calls.
Plenty of coaches flop with good talent. Nobody here is privy to the inner workings of UGA's program
 
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StormCobra

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That year he was DC at Auburn right before we hired him, was not a good year for their defense. He has lots of talent to work with at UGA. The problem here at SC is that he did a poor job of hiring coaches. TRob as DC? Really?
& McClendon as OC... also Bad hire... I kept thinking he would take over the Defense his last year but T. Rob handled it & it
was terrible...I sometimes think he thought he had a free yr. because of Covid & he was letting it play out on Offense & Defense before he made changes to Bobo O & A new Guy as D.C. But all spiraled out of control.
 
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Maxcy

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Plenty of coaches flop with good talent. Nobody here is privy to the inner workings of UGA's program

UGAs talent on defense is rare. It's kinda like LSUs talent on offense a few years ago. Once the talent was gone, the coaches were found to be not so good...and they were fired.

You really don't think that Smart has significant influence on how UGA practices defense and plays it on game day?
 

18IsTheMan

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UGAs talent on defense is rare. It's kinda like LSUs talent on offense a few years ago. Once the talent was gone, the coaches were found to be not so good...and they were fired.

You really don't think that Smart has significant influence on how UGA practices defense and plays it on game day?

He's the head coach, so I assume he has significant influence on everything.

When he was DC at Bama, or fans said basically the same thing "Smart doesn't run that D, Saban does. You really don't think Saban has significant influence on how Bama practices defense and plays it on game day?" Now that Muschamp is DC for Smart, they want to say Smart is the real defensive mind.

I mean, look, if this was a flash in the pan, I'd dismiss it, but Muschamp has a good track record overall with defenses. Yeah, he was horrible as a head coach and his defenses here weren't all that great, but his overall record is strong. It it what it is.
 

Maxcy

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He's the head coach, so I assume he has significant influence on everything.

When he was DC at Bama, or fans said basically the same thing "Smart doesn't run that D, Saban does. You really don't think Saban has significant influence on how Bama practices defense and plays it on game day?" Now that Muschamp is DC for Smart, they want to say Smart is the real defensive mind.

I mean, look, if this was a flash in the pan, I'd dismiss it, but Muschamp has a good track record overall with defenses. Yeah, he was horrible as a head coach and his defenses here weren't all that great, but his overall record is strong. It it what it is.

Muschamp has a good track record on defense when he has significant talent. I wouldn't say that UGAs performance on Saturday was the supposed work of a mastermind coordinator.
 

18IsTheMan

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Muschamp has a good track record on defense when he has significant talent. I wouldn't say that UGAs performance on Saturday was the supposed work of a mastermind coordinator.

Again, anyone who succeeds at that level as a coach or coordinator does it with talent. A lot of guys, though, fail even with great talent (e.g. Jimbo).
 

secocks

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I'd guess that 50% of the DC's out there would look like world beaters with UGA's defensive talent...not to mention that Smart is the HC, and presumably very involved in both defensive planning and play calls.
That is funny how things changed. After Smart’s first couple of seasons this board was saying how lucky we were to have Muschamp over Smart. Smart can recruit but he will never win big because he can’t coach.
 

18IsTheMan

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That is funny how things changed. After Smart’s first couple of seasons this board was saying how lucky we were to have Muschamp over Smart. Smart can recruit but he will never win big because he can’t coach.

And when Smart was at Bama it was "He's not the real reason behind Bama's good defense, Saban is". Now that Muschamp is at UGA it's "Smart is the reason behind UGA's defense, not Muschamp".

It's amazing to me how much our fans always know about the behind-the-scenes of other teams.
 

Maxcy

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That is funny how things changed. After Smart’s first couple of seasons this board was saying how lucky we were to have Muschamp over Smart. Smart can recruit but he will never win big because he can’t coach.

This board was saying that? Who?
 

Maxcy

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Again, anyone who succeeds at that level as a coach or coordinator does it with talent. A lot of guys, though, fail even with great talent (e.g. Jimbo).

There are a lot of very good defensive teams that don't have near the talent that UGA has. We just played one of them - Missouri.
 

18IsTheMan

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There are a lot of very good defensive teams that don't have near the talent that UGA has. We just played one of them - Missouri.

Well, UGA gives up 10 ppg fewer than Missouri does, so I'm not sure what your point is.
 

Maxcy

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And when Smart was at Bama it was "He's not the real reason behind Bama's good defense, Saban is". Now that Muschamp is at UGA it's "Smart is the reason behind UGA's defense, not Muschamp".

It's amazing to me how much our fans always know about the behind-the-scenes of other teams.

It's not necessary to have any behind the scenes knowledge. All you have to do is watch the games and follow the trends.

UGA has been stellar on defense since Smart arrived. The talent is immense and the scheme has been good for years. It's hard to deny it.

I'm sorry, but your original premise is off base. Look at it this way...if Muschamp was not the DC against TN last Saturday, do you really think that TNs offense would have fared noticeably better?
 

Maxcy

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Well, UGA gives up 10 ppg fewer than Missouri does, so I'm not sure what your point is.

My point is that there are successful defenses that don't possess a lot of talent, such as Missouri. Missouri is currently #31 in scoring defense - that's successful. You said that any good defensive coach does it with talent. That isn't the case.

If you want even better examples, the top 10 scoring defenses are littered with teams with lesser talent:

1 - Illinois
4 - Minnesota
5 - Iowa
6 - Marshall
7 - Air Force
9 - Iowa State
10 - San Jose St
 
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18IsTheMan

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It's not necessary to have any behind the scenes knowledge. All you have to do is watch the games and follow the trends.

UGA has been stellar on defense since Smart arrived. The talent is immense and the scheme has been good for years. It's hard to deny it.

I'm sorry, but your original premise is off base. Look at it this way...if Muschamp was not the DC against TN last Saturday, do you really think that TNs offense would have fared noticeably better?

I do not believe for a second that you have watched each and every UGA game since Smart arrived and have carefully followed trends.
 

18IsTheMan

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Assumptions about what's going on behind the scenes aside, Muschamp has a strong statistical record as DC. If you want to throw his record/stats out b/c he had talent, then you have to throw out the record/stats of every coach who has ever coached football and succeeded with talent, including Spurrier's best years here.
 
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Rogue Cock

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He's the head coach, so I assume he has significant influence on everything.

When he was DC at Bama, or fans said basically the same thing "Smart doesn't run that D, Saban does. You really don't think Saban has significant influence on how Bama practices defense and plays it on game day?" Now that Muschamp is DC for Smart, they want to say Smart is the real defensive mind.

I mean, look, if this was a flash in the pan, I'd dismiss it, but Muschamp has a good track record overall with defenses. Yeah, he was horrible as a head coach and his defenseI
It is hard to argue that Muschamp's defenses at both Texas and Florida weren't top notch.
 

Maxcy

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I do not believe for a second that you have watched each and every UGA game since Smart arrived and have carefully followed trends.

I have never claimed to have watched each and every UGA game since Smart arrived. But I've watched plenty to know that UGA's defense was salty long before last Saturday.

And trends are easy to follow when they are literally at your fingertips via the internet. That's how I factually know that (1) UGA's defense has been good for a while, (2) UGA's defense is full of talented players from top to bottom and (3) most of the current top-ten scoring defenses are not comprised of 4 and 5 star talent. The conclusion? Pointing to Muschamp as a primary reason for UGA's success last Saturday is a pretty dubious claim.
 

Maxcy

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Assumptions about what's going on behind the scenes aside, Muschamp has a strong statistical record as DC.

He sure does...so long as he has top end talent to work with. He gets even better when he's standing in close range of coaches like Kirby Smart.

If you want to throw his record/stats out b/c he had talent, then you have to throw out the record/stats of every coach who has ever coached football and succeeded with talent, including Spurrier's best years here.

LOL. Spurrier won the ACC at Duke. He won a National Championship at UF; before he was hired, UF was not a top-end program. USC never sniffed an 11-win season before Spurrier arrived. He did it three years in a row. In short, Spurrier had significant success at three different schools with various levels of talent. Please, let's not compare Muschamp to Spurrier.

When you are digging a hole, sometimes it is best to stop digging.
 

TheRoo

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Muschamp is a good DC when he has 5-star talent. Many college coaches would be good with 5-star talent. Muschamp has lived a charmed coaching life in terms of $$$ vs. value to a program.
 

18IsTheMan

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I have never claimed to have watched each and every UGA game since Smart arrived. But I've watched plenty to know that UGA's defense was salty long before last Saturday.

And trends are easy to follow when they are literally at your fingertips via the internet. That's how I factually know that (1) UGA's defense has been good for a while, (2) UGA's defense is full of talented players from top to bottom and (3) most of the current top-ten scoring defenses are not comprised of 4 and 5 star talent. The conclusion? Pointing to Muschamp as a primary reason for UGA's success last Saturday is a pretty dubious claim.

He sure does...so long as he has top end talent to work with. He gets even better when he's standing in close range of coaches like Kirby Smart.



LOL. Spurrier won the ACC at Duke. He won a National Championship at UF; before he was hired, UF was not a top-end program. USC never sniffed an 11-win season before Spurrier arrived. He did it three years in a row. In short, Spurrier had significant success at three different schools with various levels of talent. Please, let's not compare Muschamp to Spurrier.

When you are digging a hole, sometimes it is best to stop digging.

I said nothing about Spurrier at Duke. I referenced Spurrier's performance here.