Muschamp Trades Auburn Orange For Texas Burnt Orange

by Jay Coulter on Jan 4, 2008 8:03 PM CST in News Comment 11 comments

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

As most expected, Will Muschamp made it official this afternoon. He will become the new defensive coordinator at Texas. Muschamp flew to Austin on Thursday and interviewed with Longhorns coach Mack Brown.

As we speculated last night, once that plane left Auburn for Austin, there was no turning back - except to get the wife and kids.

Muschamp returned to Auburn today and refused to answer questions from reporters other than to say a decision had not been made. We now know that wasn’t the truth.

He met briefly with Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville late this afternoon and broke the news.

Muschamp released this statement through Auburn tonight:

"First, I want to thank Coach Tuberville for giving me an opportunity to coach at a special place like Auburn," Muschamp said. "He was a great coach to work for, and I had a chance to work with an outstanding staff. I want to thank the players for the effort they gave over the past two seasons.

"Auburn has a great fan base and great support for its football program. It's been a tough day and a tough decision. However, I feel that this is a decision that's best for my family."

Candidates mentioned as possible replacements include: former Duke coach Ted Roof, former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator John Tenuta and Cincinnati University defensive coordinator Joe Tresey.

To say this move comes as a shock is an understatement.

Numerous media sources reported in late December that the Southern Miss job was his to take. Other media outlets say that Muschamp spurned SMU and its heading coaching job.

That’s what makes this move all the more puzzling. You have to believe that money wasn’t an issue. The Auburn Board of Trustees recently approved a raise for Muschamp that would have paid him $425,000 next season, the highest for an assistant in the SEC.

The Dallas Morning News is reporting tonight that his salary will be upwards of $400,000. You have to believe it will be substantially higher than what he was to be paid at Auburn in 2008.

"We're thrilled to have Will joining our staff," said Texas Coach Mack Brown. "He's a bright, young, high-energy coach who has gained a great deal of experience and had a lot of success in working for two tremendous coaches in Nick Saban, Tommy Tuberville and Roy Kidd (Eastern Kentucky/College Football Hall of Famer).
"He built a defense at LSU that helped them become one of the nation's most dominant units for several years, including a national championship in 2003, and he’s done the same thing at Auburn."

There will be a lot of speculation as to why Muschamp left. At this point no one is quite certain what made him leave.

One thing is for sure, Auburn fans loved Will Muschamp. He was the most popular assistant coach on the Plains in the last 25 years. Many fans hoped that he would one day replace Tuberville upon retirement.

Now all that good will (no pun intended) is gone. Auburn fans feel like they’ve been punched in the gut tonight.

The coming days will be interesting as the world turns on the Plains of Auburn.

Note: To read the Texas coverage of the hiring of Will Muschamp, make sure and visit Burnt Orange Nation. It’s run by my friend Peter Bean and he’s one of the best at covering Texas football.

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Muschamp to Texas

Talk to me real slow now ... On Monday, Muschamp said that "Anyone out there that wants to be a winner needs to become an Auburn Tiger." On Thursday, he accepts a job at UT??

The obvious "quick" conclusion is perhaps Muschamp wasn't the winner we thought he was. On the other hand, all of us couldn't have been that wrong on this guy. I'm thinking there's an ill mother-in-law in TX, Brown has pictures Muschamp doesn't want to see in public, ... or someone said something to him after the game that didn't set well at all. There has to be more to this story than has come to light to date.

Ever wonder why God painted a beautiful sky blue and a breathtaking sunset orange?

by Tigerz on Jan 4, 2008 9:04 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

What really chaps me is........

Texas is a lateral move, screw the presses darling crap. The only two Brown assistants that I can ever recall getting HC jobs under his watch are Chizik and Greg Robinson and Chizik got hired as much for his accomplishment at AU in 2004 as he did for the next season at Texas. And Robinson isn't doing all that hot at Syracuse. You can't tell me that when your in a location that adores you and making in excess of 400K that 25k is enough to uproot your family. Especially with the talent he had at AU. I don't know what the deal is but it stinks. I hope UT has a defense that resembles swiss cheese as long as he's there. Let's find a good DC thats aggressive and wants to win. dammit.

by Todd92 on Jan 4, 2008 10:05 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I'm so glad we had this time together...

Ahhh. Doesn't matter. Good luck, Will! We hardly knew ya! Let's do like Jay encourages us to do and stay classy, Auburn! No ill feelings for the departed. Maybe he can line up against us as HC of his alma mater one day.

Tigerz: I think it's: God must be an Auburn Tiger, too, because the sun sets orange and the sky is colored blue!

I will never admit to having an embroidered picture with that caption given to me by an old girlfriend...Never!

by War Eagle Atlanta on Jan 5, 2008 11:41 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Muschamp leaving.

Heck, I know why he left,...way too much male-bonding going on for the staff and players' taste,...:-),...as indicated in the pictures. I'm sure Borges (I believe that's Borges in the picture) just loved getting tackled/blindsided from behind without even seeing it coming. No seriously,...he is definitely what you might call a player's coach with all the animation, emotion, and intensity he displayed. In all truth, I think he is a great coach and did a pretty good job at Auburn. Although,...I also personally believe the talent that comes to Auburn and plays on defense is a big contributing factor toward making defensive coaches look good at Auburn. And as was also mentioned already on this board, I don't believe he'll find any better talent at Texas.

War Eagle!

by AUTiger8199 on Jan 5, 2008 8:32 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Stay Classy?

Like letting your boss go to bat for you and getting you the monster raise, then throwing it back in his face a couple of weeks later and bolting for another spot for a few dollars (if any) more? Come on War Eagle Atlanta it is what it is and it isnt classy. Scew Texas never liked em anyway. I just found a reason to root for OU at least in one game. I do agree with the post that said AU's year in year out place as a top defense is due to the talent (helping coaches look good). I hope Muschamp does well in all his stops along the way except this one. Like I said lets find a good aggressive DC and move on.

by Todd92 on Jan 6, 2008 8:41 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Classy...

Todd, staying classy doesn't mean he's above criticism. I just don't want any juvenile posters calling him names.

It sounds to me like Muschamp just felt like taking his ball and going home. Both sides made mistakes, sure. I can only imagine what it's like to have to negotiate anything with people with huge egos.

Muschamp is free to sell his services to the highest bidder. He might want to be wary of jumping around a little too much. You can't tell me that teams don't notice that.

We'll still have a good defense no matter who the boss is. Like Tiger 81-99 said, we got the talent!

by War Eagle Atlanta on Jan 7, 2008 3:17 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

And now the real story ...

I just knew there was more to this than was coming out. Goldberg at the Bham News is reporting a "miscommunication" between Muschamp and Jay Jacobs. Obviously, Jacobs also had a seat at the table when we were going through that mess with Tuberville. I certainly don't expect Jacobs to be throwing money at people, but at his level there is no excuse for "miscommunications" that cause your top performers to consider leaving.

Ever wonder why God painted a beautiful sky blue and a breathtaking sunset orange?

by Tigerz on Jan 6, 2008 10:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I'll bite...

Why, Tigerz? Other than because of that embroidered picture I don't have?

by War Eagle Atlanta on Jan 7, 2008 3:10 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Here goes War Eagle Atlanta ...

As best as I remember it anyway :)

Bear Bryant dies and goes to heaven (I know ... y'all work with me here!). On his arrival St Peter, as is the custom, shows him around. Bear is grinning from ear to ear ... he's going to enjoy this for sure. Finally, St Peter shows him a cozy little cottage all decked out in crimson and white. He tells Bear this will be his new home. On the walls are all sorts of plaques and honors including his 142 mythical national championships. He's pretty pleased and tells St Peter so.

As he wanders around his new home, he happens to gaze out the big picture window in his living room. He sees this huge mansion up on top of a hill. It's so big it fills the entire view. To his chagrin, it's decked out in brilliant orange and blue. The glow is so bright, it hurts his eyes to look. Squinting and attempting to cover his eyes, he does however make out two banners ... one reads Auburn and the other is a big War Eagle. What in the world he wonders?? By far, it's larger and better looking than any home he's ever seen before. Quite irritated, he turns to St Peter and asks why Shug Jordan received such a beautiful home when all he got was this cottage?

Respectfully, St Peter points out that's not Shug's home. It's God's ...

And now you know why a beautiful sky is blue and a breathtaking sunset is orange ... War Eagle! :)

Ever wonder why God painted a beautiful sky blue and a breathtaking sunset orange?

by Tigerz on Jan 8, 2008 12:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs