Sorry Clemson. Sorry Tennessee. Sorry Washington. And sorry to any other teams looking for a new head coach. Will Muschamp is no longer on the market.
The Austin American Statesmen is reporting that Longhorn athletic director DeLoss Dodds announced today that defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will remain at Texas, and will take over for Mack Brown someday. His salary looks to be raised to $900,000, which would make him one of the highest paid coordinators in NCAA football. I had predicted earlier that this was the sort of deal that would be needed to retain the hottest coordinator in the country.
So, this begs the question, When does Mack Brown step down?
Mack doesn’t show any signs of tiring just yet, but the rumor is that he’s interested in the athletic director position when Dodds steps down. Without question, that would be a great role for him.
Dodds is 71 years old, so his retirement could come at any time, although if I had to guess, we’ll hear an announcement of his retirement the summer of 2009, with plans to go into effect in 2010.
So, here’s what I’m expecting to see in the next two or three years:
- DeLoss Dodds retires.
- Mack Brown steps up to athletic director.
- Will Muschamp steps up to Head Coach.
- Greg Davis retires.
- Major Applewhite steps up to Offensive Coordinator.
- Severe terror is felt by all of Texas’ opponents.
From the release:
“This is first and foremost about keeping Will at Texas,” Brown said. “He’s had several opportunities to interview for head coaching jobs, but we wanted him to stay here. I’m going to continue coaching as I’m enjoying it. I have eight years left on my contract, I am not thinking at all about moving on, it’s simply that I think Will is a great young coach, a perfect fit for this place and he wants to stay. Nothing will change in our structure. He will continue in his role as defensive coordinator and when the time comes, will be ready to step in and take over the program.
“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.”
Note: If you would like, you can listen to the press conference.
Boom Mother F’er!
Great move by DeLoss, Mack, and co.
Although I wouldn’t necessarily take credit for “predicting” this!
Slight difference between saying Muschamp sticks around for another year and saying he sticks around for another decade.
My only prediction was regarding this year. 🙂
In fact, if Mack doesn’t step down (or up) in the next couple of years (maybe three), I expect Muschamp to move on.