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Will Muschamp Believes Kurt Roper Could Have Saved His Florida Job
Will Muschamp believes hiring Kurt Roper could have kept him at Florida.
December 18, 2015Will Muschamp believes he’d still be at Florida if he made the right hires.
During a recent interview with SiriusXM College Sports Nation, Muschamp alluded to offensive coordinator Kurt Roper being the missing piece to the puzzle.
“I feel like, if I’d hired Kurt in my first year at Florida, I’d probably still be there,” Muschmap said. “That’s the confidence I have in him and moving forward. I think he’s an outstanding football coach. He’s finishing the year out with the Cleveland Browns. That’s why we haven’t made a formal announcement yet. I’m real excited. He’s a really good football coach.”
If Ron Zook hadn’t tried to fight a fraternity, or posted a better record, he’d probably still be the coach at Florida as well, but that’s neither here nor there.
The Gators did see improvement in their offense under Roper, who was the third offensive coordinator hired by Muschamp. In 2014, Florida averaged 30.3 points per game, compared to 18.8 the year prior.
But despite Roper’s addition, Muschamp still had a difficult time coaching the team to a .500 record.
Part of that can be blamed on his inability to recruit a full roster, leaving the Gators extremely thin at several positions.
Muschamp also had an issue with putting players in a position to succeed. He discussed the roster he was handed by Meyer, and how it didn’t fit his style.
“When we came there, Urban had had great success with a spread offense, doing some of the things they did, and they recruited to that,” Muschamp said in regards to the roster when he arrived. “I really felt like, my first couple years, trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, as far as being more traditional and pro-style. We really struggled mightily with that transition.”
“Let’s not try to fit a square peg into a round hole, and I felt like I did that at Florida our first couple years.”
Luckily for Muschamp, he now has a second chance to prove he’s learned what it takes to be a head coach.
Unluckily for Florida, Muschamp will be doing so at a conference opponent while still collecting his $6 million-plus buyout. Not a bad payday for a learning experience.
