Will Muschamp believes he has 'best job in America' coaching at Georgia

It’s been over a year and half since Will Muschamp arrived back in Athens, then helping his alma mater out as an analyst in Georgia’s preparation for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against Cincinnati in December of 2020. He was officially announced in February of 2021, and in August, he was thrust onto the field from his previous advisory role after Scott Cochran had to step away from the program for the time being. Even after all that time, Muschamp is appreciative of the opportunity that his friend, and former Bulldog teammate, Kirby Smart gave him to come back and be with the program. Now serving as the co-defensive coordinator, Muschamp believes that he’s got the best job in America.

“First of all, I really appreciate the opportunity Coach Smart gave me to come back to my alma mater at Georgia, to live in Athens. It’s been an awesome experience obviously,” Muschamp said. “It was an unfortunate situation with Coach Cochran and handling that, I certainly was ready to step on the field. I’ve asked players as a head coach and as a coordinator and a position coach for a lot of years to do the best job they can in their role in the organization. When I was an analyst, I wanted to do the best job I could do to be an analyst. When I was asked to be the special teams coordinator and work with the safeties and STARs, then I wanted to do the best job I could do there. That’s the way I’ve always approached things in my role of organizations, doing the best job I can do for Coach Smart.”

“I love my role. I told my wife the other day, I think I’ve got the best job in America,” he continued. “At the end of the day, the room that I have, I’m honored to coach the young men in that room, to be at the University of Georgia, to see our future as we continue to unfold and move forward, I’m really excited about it.”

Muschamp is one of several Georgia alums on staff. Kirby Smart, himself, Bryan McClendon, Todd Hartley, Mike Bobo and others all attended school at the University of Georgia and are proud to wear the G on their chest. That’s something that Muschamp believes is helpful for the staff.

“All of those guys have a vested interest in the University of Georgia. Not that we didn’t at other places, but at the end of the day, this is where you went to school. I’m certainly glad to be here,” Muschamp said. “I told the players here recently, we spend more time with you guys and our coaching staff than we do our families. I’m not proud to say that, but this isn’t a job. It’s a lifestyle. That’s what it is. So you like to be able to spend time with people you enjoy being around, and we certainly do. I credit Coach Smart and the staff that he hired. You enjoy coming to work because you like what you do, but also because you like the people you’re working with, and that’s important.”

It also helps make the work easier when he’s doing it with somebody that he largely sees things the same way as.

“I really think that, number one I credit Coach Smart and the staff for the young men that we’ve recruited. We’ve got a really good group of young men that we enjoy coaching,” he continued. “Like I mentioned earlier, I enjoy working with the staff, working with a head coach that you are philosophically aligned with of what you want – how you need to practice, the type of players you are looking for in recruiting, how you want to play middle of field coverage, how you want to play split safety coverage, how you want to play pattern match – not to say that we agree on everything because we don’t, but that’s healthy. Again, what is your role in the organization, do the best job you can in the role you have and if you don’t like it, go somewhere else. It’s real simple.”

Muschamp and Glenn Schumann are listed as co-defensive coordinators entering the 2022 season, replacing Dan Lanning who departed for the head coaching position at Oregon. Georgia will take on the Ducks in the season opener on September 3rd as a part of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.