It took Florida less than a week to find a replacement for the most successful coach in its history.
The Gators hired Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp on Saturday night, just three days after Urban Meyer announced his resignation to spend more time with his family.
“Coach Muschamp is someone we targeted from the beginning, and he is the guy we wanted,” UF athletics director Jeremy Foley said in a release. “He is the only person we met with and the only person we offered the job to.”
Muschamp, 39, will be the second youngest coach in the Southeastern Conference behind Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen, a former Meyer assistant whom many thought would be a serious candidate for UF’s opening.
But instead of an offensive wizard like Mullen, the Gators went with a different tack and chose Muschamp, whom Texas had named as its coach-in-waiting behind Mack Brown.
“This is a dream come true to be the head coach of the Florida Gators,” Muschamp said.
Under Muschamp, the Longhorns ranked seventh in the nation for total defense (300 yards per game) and 51st in scoring defense (23 points per game) this season, but he had UT ranked in the top 10 of both categories in 2009.
“I promise to bring a tremendous amount of passion and energy to work every day, and my goal is to have our team bring the same type of attitude in everything we do, both on and off the field,” Muschamp said. “I want our team to play hard, with relentless effort and with toughness. We want to make the Gator Nation proud.”
The hire is a homecoming for Muschamp, who spent part of his childhood in Gainesville before returning to Georgia, his birthplace, and walking on as a safety with the Bulldogs.
He then worked as a graduate assistant at Auburn and served as Nick Saban’s defensive coordinator at both LSU and with the Miami Dolphins.
His next stop was a two-year stint commanding Auburn’s defense before taking the same position at Texas in 2008.
“When we started the search for our next head coach, we wanted a coach who was familiar with the Southeastern Conference,” Foley said. “We wanted a candidate who was a relentless recruiter and was familiar with recruiting in the state of Florida. We wanted a candidate who was high energy and had been on the big stage.
“We wanted a candidate who was respected by his players and his peers and we wanted someone who had a passion for the University of Florida. Coach Muschamp is all of those things and more.”
But he isn’t likely to be the key to revamping the Gators’ struggling offense, and all eyes will be on whom he selects as his offensive coordinator. Muschamp will be introduced at a press conference in Gainesville on Tuesday.
