Will Muschamp has South Carolina ahead of schedule.
Muschamp inherited a rather downtrodden program. There wasn’t good energy emanating from the team, and a 3-9 finish in 2015 had many concerned about the future going forward.
However, the fiery personality injected a jolt of energy and positivity — resulting in a spot in the Birmingham Bowl versus USF on Dec. 29.
USF’s head coach is Willie Taggart. Taggart has been associated with multiple open jobs during this swirling season of coaching rumors.
According to South Carolina Athletic Director Ray Tanner, the Gamecocks were even interested in hiring Taggart a season ago:
“We had a discussion. We talked to coach Taggart. He’s a very successful coach. He’s going to be a very difficult opponent. His name is being bantered around right now for some other jobs. He’s an outstanding person and an outstanding coach. He’s a guy who runs a great program and has been very successful.”
With that said, those in Columbia are very pleased with the job Muschamp has done. Tanner echoed this sentiment on Sunday:
“The prognosticators didn’t have us applying at the end of the year. What coach Muschamp stands for and what he’s all about is infectious, ‘I’m not trying to build this program four years from now, it’s win now.’ Are we happy at 6-6? I think you heard him say that’s not where you want to be, but it’s an opportunity in the first year to grow and go to a bowl. I’m really happy for our players and what our coaches stand for and the impact he was able to make in year one.”
