It seems we'll never know now about what would've been the biggest risk/reward candidate in the Vols' coaching search - the AP is reporting that Muschamp has been named the ever-popular coach-in-waiting at Texas, taking him off the list of candidates at both Tennessee and Clemson.
Muschamp, the Longhorns' defensive coordinator with previous DC stints at LSU and the Dolphins under Nick Saban followed by two years at Auburn, will see his salary more than double to $900,000 under this new deal. Mack Brown is 57 years old, and with the Longhorns currently ranked fourth and still very much in the National Championship chase, and just three years removed from their '05 title, it's safe to say right now that Brown has as many years left in front of him as he wants.
Texas joins Kentucky and Florida State as major conference programs who've gone down this road in naming a successor with the current coach still employed. This does help eliminate any distractions down in Austin, and should narrow the focus of the Vols' coaching search.
It was risk/reward, like I said, so we'll never know and thus it's hard to be really upset about this, though I know several of us around the community were on board in going in Muschamp's direction at one point or another. Muschamp and Butch Davis were at the top of my personal list when all this started, and so now as the fantasy Mike Leach/John Chavis combo moves atop it, I'm sure it'll only be a matter of time before that one's shot down too...
Whomever we get, let's hope we all get behind them.
Go Vols
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
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4 comments:
Well, Muschamp my have accepted the offer, but what does that mean when we offer $3 million a year? Not too much. In fact I think Texas has just put the spotlight on him, they've validated that we should want him. His family is less then two hours drive from Knoxville....
Also, I love Austin, but if someone offered to triple my salary and move me to within two hours of Knoxville, I'd be all over it.
I hear you, but here's what Muschamp said about it that makes me think this is the real deal in Austin:
"I was really excited when they presented the opportunity to me," Muschamp said. "I'm not in any hurry to be a head coach and hope Coach Brown's around for many more years. I'm just glad I'm going to be able to stay at Texas. This is the top program in the country, my family loves it here and there's no better person to watch and learn from about running a football program than Coach Brown.
"President Powers, DeLoss Dodds, the administration and the leadership at Texas are outstanding. Coach Brown and a great support staff are in place. I've really enjoyed the kids in our program and everyone I've been around here. Texas has all the resources, facilities and a great recruiting base. It is the elite program in the country. No disrespect to any of the other places I've worked, but this is a really special place."
Agreed, Roper. It's legit.
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