“It was time for a change”: Gamecock fans react to Will Muschamp’s firing

Muschamp only won three of his last 13 games at the helm

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — Less than a day after the University of South Carolina parted ways with the Head Coach of their football team, Will Muschamp, several fans are thinking that the time was right to make a change.

The University announced the news Sunday following a 59-42 loss on the road against the University of Mississippi. Muschamp had spent the last five seasons in Columbia, going 28-30 with three bowl appearances.

Three weeks ago, South Carolina scored a big-time win over fifteenth-ranked Auburn. This was Muschamp’s second win against a ranked opponent in two seasons (the other came on the road in 2019 against third-ranked Georgia).

But what followed were three straight blow-out losses to LSU (52-24), Texas A&M (49-3), and Ole Miss (59-42).

Peter Chao, a University of South Carolina graduate student who attended to the Texas A&M game, said he could sense all around Williams Brice Stadium that the writing was on the wall for a coaching change.

“When you start getting your rear-end kicked like that, and chants are coming down for ‘Fire Muschamp’, you lose hope in the football team, you lose hope like ‘why am I going to watch next week?’ We need a change,” Chao told ABC Columbia.

Dating back to November, the Gamecocks have only won three of their last 13 games. Two of those wins have come against Vanderbilt. 

After starting off his tenure with a 20-16 record in his first three seasons (including an Outback Bowl win over Michigan), Muschamp posted a record of 6-13 since 28-0 Belk Bowl loss to Virginia back in 2018.

Now some fans are eager to begin a new chapter.

“I do think it was long overdue. I do think he was really good with the players, but we didn’t have enough wins, and I think it was time for a change,” said Erin Coleman, a Gamecock fan.

Some feel the university should have made a change earlier, but a large buyout prevented that from happening. His buyout from the school is worth $13.2 million.

“I think that if he didn’t have this buyout, he would have been gone years ago, but luckily the donors pitched in, and got him out of here,” said Mike Gros, a senior at the University of South Carolina.

However, one fan feels five years is not enough of a sample size to determine if a coach stays or goes.

“He’s human, I mean he made a couple of mistakes, but he hadn’t been there long enough,” said Bresheiva Youmans, a Gamecock fan.

At the end of the day, some fans want a coach that could energize the program and propel the Gamecocks to SEC prominence.

“I’d like to see them do better than what they’re doing, and I think they deserve the opportunity with a better coach,” said Gamecock fan Dino Watson.

Some names floated around as potential candidates in the eyes of Gamecock fan include Oklahoma assistant Shane Beamer, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Head Coach Billy Napier, Coastal Carolina Head Coach Jamey Chadwell, and Liberty Head Coach Hugh Freeze.

“There’s definitely hope here. Don’t say this where coaches come to die,” said Brendan Kowalewski, a senior at the University of South Carolina.

Since 1994, the University of South Carolina has had four full-time head coaches with one serving as an interim.

• Brad Scott coached the team from 1994-1998, posting a record of 23-32-1. Prior to being the Gamecock head coach, he was the Offensive Coordinator at Florida State. After posting a 1-10 record in 1998, he was fired, but then served as an assistant at Clemson for twenty years. He is currently the Football Chief of Staff at the University of South Florida under his son and former Clemson assistant Jeff Scott
• Lou Holtz served as the head coach from 1999-2004, posting a record of 33-37 in six seasons. Holtz made his name guiding Notre Dame to a National Championship in 1988, also scooping one up as the head man at Arkansas in 1977. He also spent time helming the programs of William and Mary, NC State, and Minnesota, picking up 249 college wins. He also spent a year coaching the New York Jets in 1976. During his time in Columbia, he led the Gamecocks to two Outback Bowl victories (2000, 2001). He retired from coaching at the end of the 2004 season.
• Steve Spurrier served as the head coach from 2005-2015, leading the Gamecocks to a 86-49 record. The “Head Ball Coach” previously coached at Duke and Florida (where he led the Gators to the 1996 National Championship), and also coached Washington’s NFL team for two seasons. The 1966 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback led the Gamecocks to nine bowl games, with five victories (2006 Liberty Bowl, 2011 Capital One Bowl, 2012 Outback Bowl, 2013 Capital One Bowl, 2014 Independence Bowl). South Carolina had three straight 11-win seasons from 2011 to 2013, and finished in the Top Ten at the end of those seasons, and Spurrier also won SEC Coach of the Year twice (2005, 2010). After a 2-4 start in 2015, Spurrier announced his resignation as Head Coach. Since then, he spent a season leading the Orlando Apollos (Alliance of American Football) before the league folded weeks into the 2019 season.
• Shawn Elliott served as the interim head coach in 2015 after Spurrier’s resignation, leading the Gamecocks to a 1-5 record. Elliott had served as an assistant for Spurrier since 2010, becoming co-offensive coordinator in 2012. Elliott’s lone win in Columbia came against Vanderbilt at Williams Brice Stadium. After he was not offered the full-time head coaching role, he took the reins of Georgia State’s program, leading the upstart Division I program to 19 wins in four seasons. The Panthers are currently 3-4 this season, with two of those losses coming against Top 25 teams (Coastal Carolina, Louisiana)
• Will Muschamp served as the head coach from 2016 to 2020, leading the Gamecocks to a 28-30 record. Muschamp previously coached the Florida Gators from 2011-2014, leading them to a 28-21 record before he was fired at the end of the 2014 season. Muschamp built his name as a Defensive Coordinator, orchestrating defensive success at both Auburn and Texas before landing the lead job at both Florida and South Carolina. Muschamp hit his high-water mark of nine wins in 2017, leading South Carolina to an Outback Bowl win. However, he won only six games in his final two seasons.

Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo, who previously served as the Head Coach of Colorado State before coming to Columbia, will serve as the Interim Head Coach. South Carolina plays its next game on Saturday at 7:30, when the Gamecocks battle the Missouri Tigers.