Some of South Carolina’s better football players are quitting on this star-crossed season of football during a pandemic, and it’s hard to blame them for it.
Their university quit on them first.
South Carolina and the SEC begged these kids to play football this season, and through all the tests, isolation and stress, they’ve played well enough to compete in just about every game (but a record of 2-5). What did they get for their troubles? South Carolina’s athletics director Ray Tanner fired their coach on Sunday after a 59-42 loss to Ole Miss.
Will Muschamp’s defense gave up 708 yards of total offense, but, as Alabama can attest, that’s not completely unprecedented. The Crimson Tide’s defense gave up 647 yards to Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss in a 63-48 victory for Alabama that made more than a few fans temporarily lose their faith in Nick Saban.
Let’s not dance around the fact that Muschamp had this coming. We all know that, but Tanner couldn’t wait a couple weeks? What’s the rush? Had to get a jump on the next guy who’s going to get baptized by Dabo Swinney next year?
The complete lack of respect for South Carolina’s student-athletes this week by their own university is a disgusting admission by the administration, university president, board of trustees and boosters of just how little the players doing all the work really mean to their university. But am I shocked? Yeah, that’s a big no.
The SEC is insane, and that’s why we love it, but that’s also why a toxic culture of football at all costs runs every campus. There’s the whole “playing football during a pandemic thing,” but I’m not talking about that. They’re playing these games this season for the money, and in South Carolina we now know where it’s all going.
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During our raging national COVID-19 pandemic, with the University of South Carolina facing a financial crunch, the school now owes Muschamp a $13 million buyout. Wealthy alums and boosters of the South Carolina athletic department will foot the bill for Muschamp, of course, but buying out one coach (and his assistants) for millions, and then paying another lucky coach even more millions doesn’t send the best message to the university in a year employees have been forced to take mandatory furloughs.
Football is more important than faculty and staff is that message, if you needed it spelled out.
The Gamecocks are scheduled to play Missouri on Saturday night in Columbia, S.C, but I’ll be surprised if it actually happens. Between Monday and Tuesday, South Carolina lost three starters off its secondary to go along with two defensive starters out with injuries. If the Gamecocks can field a team, it could get even more embarrassing. This isn’t what those players deserve.
Yes, it has been a disappointing season for South Carolina, but they did upset Auburn, and the Gamecocks’ defense held Florida’s high-powered offense to a tie for its season low in points (38). Games remain against Georgia and at Kentucky in addition to this weekend’s home game. If South Carolina wins two of the three, they should just name interim coach Mike Bobo the permanent skipper and let him rebuild the program from scratch.
At least Bobo vs. Dabo would be fun for the writers.
South Carolina represents, arguably, the most difficult job for a head coach in the SEC, so I consider Muschamp’s overall record there of 28-28 to be a success. There was no place to hide a mediocre team this season in the SEC, but Muschamp did upset Georgia last year and the victory against Auburn was South Carolina’s first against the Tigers since 1933. Before Steve Spurrier goes popping off about Muschamp again, let’s remember that ol’ Spurdog was 0-6 against Auburn while at South Carolina, and has the unholy honor of surviving in Columbia long enough to lose to Tommy Tuberville, Gene Chizik and Gus Malzahn.
It’s not impossible, theoretically, to win at South Carolina, though, and that’s what makes it the SEC’s toughest gig. After all, while Spurrier never beat Auburn, he is the last coach from the SEC East to get the best of Nick Saban. Winning the SEC East is the goal for South Carolina, but the standard in the Palmetto State is Clemson. It means that every single season during his tenure, Muschamp faced one of the most difficult schedules in the country.
What’s it going to take to win at South Carolina? If Tanner hasn’t at least called young offensive coaching phenom Joe Brady (now the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers), then he doesn’t have a clue.
What’s next for Muschamp? Well, if he’s not named the new coach of the New York Jets next week, then maybe he can run for U.S. Senate in a couple years.
Who are we kidding? The Jets? The Senate? This is Muschamp we’re talking about. He always falls up. Maybe he’ll get the Texas job he was promised so many years ago (2008).
If he still has something to prove, then there’s always a back-of-the-house position at Alabama to fall back upon. Muschamp can join Charlie Strong as one of Saban’s defensive analysts and they can muse about being defensive dinosaurs in the age of unstoppable offenses.
Strong is presumably already prepping for the Gators in the SEC championship, so Muschamp can just take Clemson.
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Of course, if I were Muschamp, I’d just retire early, go fishing with Mike Leach in Monroe County, Florida, and kiss this crazy business goodbye.
Combine his golden parachute from South Carolina with over $6 million that the University of Florida paid him to go away, and Muschamp probably doesn’t need to ever work again based solely upon the money he was given to stop working.
What a career. What a league — the once and future Golden Boy of the SEC fired during a pandemic.
Saban will be remembered for his dominance during this era of the SEC, but it is Muschamp’s nine years in the SEC East, and his angry sideline grimace that should represent the conference’s hysterical heart and soul.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.
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