Dear Will,
You have a problem on your hands, one larger than you would publicly like to admit. Ten months on the job, your players have already been arrested seven times.
You have said all the right things about “The Florida Way” and taking a stand against criminal activity. You need to do more than talk, though.
You need to take action, and not just by punishing players. You need to show that alcohol possessions and marijuana busts affect you.
You need to take a pay cut.
Whenever you finish dissecting Tennessee game film this afternoon, march to Jeremy Foley’s office and tell your boss you want to add a clause to your contract. Tell Jeremy you are so concerned with running a clean program that you will pay a fine every time a player is convicted.
And Jeremy? You should do the same. You can’t distance yourself from this; it’s your athletic program. Same with you, Bernie Machen. The well-being of your school relies heavily on the money Muschamp brings in.
This is a problem Urban Meyer never properly handled. He won a pair of national championships, but those accomplishments were often dwarfed by the 31 arrests during his six-year tenure.
So far, you’re on pace for an even more crime-infested career. If players keep getting cuffed at the current rate, you will be staring at arrest No. 50 in your sixth season.
You are pocketing about $3.25 million this year and taking home another $2.5 million in 2012. On its face, there’s nothing wrong with that. You are, after all, the CEO of a company that hauled in more than $44 million two seasons ago, and the well isn’t drying up any time soon.
But look at those bonuses. You will make $75,000 if Florida wins the Southeastern Conference, $150,000 for reaching the national championship and an additional $100,000 for winning it.
There needs to be a flip side. Shouldn’t the off-field issues be more important? Shouldn’t you get punished if your players end up behind bars? Isn’t this college football? Aren’t you a molder of men?
I respect kicking Janoris Jenkins off the team in the spring, but that only affects you for one year. What about the younger players, the guys who will be around for two or three more years?
There is little you can do to stop a player from getting arrested at 2 a.m., but your contract should have an incentive for coaching a crime-free team. Otherwise, why not recruit the fastest thugs you can find?
Listen, Will, you are Coach Boom. You will always be the fiery guy who accidentally curses on national TV, regardless of how many national championships you may win. That’s not a bad thing; people eat that up.
But if you are going to wear your emotions on your sleeve, you need to be consistent. Dressing down a ref because you disagree with one of his calls? Cool. Saying you are “disgusted” with the NCAA when it suspends Sharrif Floyd? Even better.
But what about when Dee Finley got arrested Monday? There was a statement from a team spokesman: “Coach Muschamp is aware of the incident and will handle the matter.” Then there was this from you Wednesday: “I’m handling that. We’ll work through that. That’s where we are.”
That’s just lame talk. Until you put a clause in your contract, it will be cheap talk, too.
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@alligator.org.
