Georgia Football: Simply no room at the Inn in Athens

Georgia football simply does not have room for Will Muschamp.

The South Carolina Gamecocks have parted ways with Will Muschamp. There is some buzz inside Georgia football’s fanbase that would like the former Georgia safety to come back and coach with his longtime friend Kirby Smart. However, is that what is best for the program? What would have to happen for him to be an option? Where would he fit on the coaching staff?

First and foremost, let’s take a look at what Muschamp brings to the table as a defensive coordinator. Muschamp hasn’t had that title since 2015 when he was at Auburn. The word inconsistent would be best used to describe Muschamp when he did hold that title. You never knew what you were going to get from him from one year to the next.

Here are his defenses’ DFEI ratings when he was the defensive coordinator.

(DFEI ratings represent the per-possession scoring advantage each team’s defense would be expected to have on a neutral field against an average offense per Football Outsiders.)

Defenses’ DFEI with Muschamp as Defensive Coordinator:

2007 Auburn – 0.97 (No. 8)

2008 Texas – 0.75 (No. 20)

2009 Texas – 1.30 (No. 3)

2010 Texas – 0.50 (No. 26)

2014 Auburn – 0.14 (No. 53)

2015 Auburn – 0.33 (No. 36)

Defenses’ Succes Rate with Muschamp as Defensive Coordinator:

2007 Auburn – 37.7% (No. 23)

2008 Texas – 40.2% (No. 53)

2009 Texas – 34.8% (No. 11)

2010 Texas – 36.8% (No. 11)

2014 Auburn – 42.3% (No. 79)

2015 Auburn – 45.0% (No. 100)

As you can see Muschamp struggled to keep a competitive defense on the field from year to year. Georgia does not currently have that issue. The one consistent for Georgia football, under Smart, has been their defense (when healthy). Defensive coordinator Lanning does a great job of putting his unit in the best position to be successful.

In order for Muschamp to be added to Georgia football’s coaching staff, Lanning would have to be removed. There is a belief among some fans that Lanning will take a head coaching job somewhere in 2021, but until that comes to fruition he is still on Georgia’s staff. So would Smart fire Lanning to replace him with Muschamp? No, that’s not even in the realm of possibilities.

Lanning’s work since joining Georgia football’ coaching staff speaks for itself.

Georgia’s Defensive DFEI with Lanning as Defensive Coordinator:

2019 0.99 (No. 3)

2020 1.30 (No. 1)

Georgia’s Defensive Succes Rate with Lanning as Defensive Coordinator:

2019 35.7% (No. 15)

2020 36.4% (No. 20)

As you can see there is no logical reason to remove Lanning to bring in Muschamp, no matter how long Smart and Muschamp have been friends. Also, even if Lanning were to take a head coaching job there would probably be better options at defensive coordinator than Muschamp. Glenn Schumann is already on Smart’s staff as Co-defensive Coordinator and would most likely get the promotion to Defensive Coordinator if Lanning were to leave.

Now, if Schumann did get the promotion to Defensive Coordinator due to Lanning leaving there would be a spot open for someone to coach Georgia football’s outside linebackers. Muschamp was a linebacker coach at Texas from 2008 until 2010. However, there is little reason to believe that Muschamp would want to go from head coach to just a positions coach. That would be quite the demotion.

When it comes to Muschamp there just simply isn’t any room at the inn, and there won’t be next year either. Smart has done a great job of putting the right people in each position on his staff and has done a great job, outside of James Coley, of promoting within. There is no reason to believe that Smart would not, once again, promote from within if he does indeed have a spot open for a defensive coordinator next year.

As much as Georgia fans love to see their own come home to coach and help the team out, this just isn’t a fit right now. Most likely Muschamp will be coaching at another rival school next year, just like he has for the last ten years. Hopefully, it will be a team on Georgia football’s schedule because the Bulldogs still owe him some payback for last year.