The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Muschamp named head coach at Florida
12.11.2010 | Football
Dec. 11, 2010
University of Texas Defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp has been named head coach at the University of Florida, Gators Director of Athletics Jeremy Foley announced on Saturday.
"I want to thank Bill Powers, DeLoss Dodds and the Board of Regents for the confidence they had in me," Muschamp said. "Texas is an unbelievable place that I'm really proud that I was able to be a part of. I really enjoyed working with the coaches, staff and all of the kids. It's just a great place with tremendous people.
"More than anything, I want to thank Mack Brown. I'm so grateful for the opportunity he gave me and my family and all of the guidance. He is the best in the business and I can't say enough about everything he did to help prepare me for this. He really wanted it to work out for me to be the future coach at Texas, but this was just an opportunity I couldn't pass up. It's close to my family and my wife's family, and like Texas, Florida is just a tremendous place in a great conference. I wouldn't have left for any other job."
A 16-year coaching veteran, Muschamp joined the Texas staff in January 2008 as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach and completed three seasons at UT. He had been head coach in waiting since November 2008.
During his time at Texas, defensive coordinator Will Muschamp led a Longhorn defense that has held 34-of-39 opponents (87.2%) under their season scoring averages and 19 teams to 14 points or less. The Longhorns led the nation in rushing defense in 2009 and were third in total defense. Last season, the defense ranked eighth in the nation in total defense. Texas also led the nation in sacks in 2008.
"We were planning and hoping Will was going to be the next head coach at Texas, but obviously things didn't work out that way," Texas head coach Mack Brown said. "We respect his decision and we are really happy for Will and Carol. He is a great coach and will be a good fit for Florida. It's close to home for him and he knows the league well.
"Our commitment remains that we will build the best coaching staff in the country and we will begin a nationwide search immediately for a new defensive coordinator."
