Will Muschamp heads back to old stomping grounds as key member of Georgia staff
When Georgia co-defensive coordinator Will Muschamp checks his bank statements, there’s quite a bit of money in there from the team he’ll be coaching against in week three — South Carolina. He’ll return to his old home on Saturday as a key part of a UGA coaching staff that Kirby Smart has had no problem praising since the 2022 season began.
“It is comforting to have a guy who has been an SEC head coach at two places,” Smart said on Tuesday of the former Florida and South Carolina head coach. “He has worked all across the SEC, including at LSU and Auburn. There is a lot of value in that knowledge. He understands the seat I am in. He understands recruiting in this conference. He is a tremendous asset to our defensive staff. He is a tremendous asset to our special teams staff. It is like having a second head coach, and that is what I am talking about when I talk about our staff being complete and being one of the best we have assembled. He is a big reason why.”
South Carolina let Muschamp go during the 2020 season. The Gamecocks were 2-5 at the time of his firing and Muschamp, 49 years old at the time and 51 now, was owed $15.3 million. He settled with the school on a $12.9 million buyout.
Very little time passed between his firing and him returning to his alma mater to help out Smart, a long-time friend and former colleague. Will Muschamp played a key role in Smart’s hiring at Valdosta State back in 2001. Muschamp was the defensive coordinator at the time and Smart was brought on to Chris Hatcher’s staff as the defensive backs coach.
Smart’s career as a College Football coach was off and running. When Muschamp left after the 2001 season to join Nick Saban at LSU, Smart was elevated to the Blazers’ defensive coordinator post.
Will Muschamp not the only link between Georgia and South Carolina
The ties between the Bulldogs and Gamecocks don’t start or stop with Will Muschamp. At the end of the 2015 season, when Muschamp was hired as South Carolina’s head coach, Smart was said to be the top choice to take. Steve Spurrier had resigned his head coaching post in Columbia during that season and all signs pointed to Smart being the guy.
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That changed when UGA let go of Mark Richt in November. Georgia zeroed in on the then-Alabama defensive coordinator and announced him as its new head coach just over a week later.
Current Georgia wide receivers coach, Brian McClendon, who played his college ball in Athens and was UGA’s interim head coach when Richt was fired, joined the South Carolina staff in 2016. He was Muschamp’s co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach for two years before taking over play-calling duties for 2018 and 2019.
When McClendon left South Carolina for Oregon after the 2019 season, current Georgia offensive analyst Mike Bobo became the offensive coordinator. Muschamp’s ouster caused Bobo to be tapped as interim head coach for the Gamecocks.
Then there’s current South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer. He was a part of Smart’s original UGA staff, serving as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He left to become co-offensive coordinator at Oklahoma for three years before getting his first head-coaching gig.
