- First and foremost, unless and until this thing becomes final, no one with a bright future is going to be interested in the job if the possibility exists he'd just be keeping Urban Meyer's seat warm. ESPN is now reporting that Meyer is considering a leave of absence, rather than retirement, which even if developments show to be untrue adds an element of uncertainty into the situation. Even a little bit of uncertainty at this stage makes Muschamp an extremely unlikely candidate. With a national title game to prepare for and a Top 5 job already waiting for him, the situation would have to be super-duper-picture-perfect for him to even entertain the idea. This seems not to be such a situation.
UPDATE: SI's Andy Staples confirms that it's a leave of absence. So that's that.
- Florida wants a head coach with experience. What makes Muschamp at Texas a different situation is that here he's being trained in the palace, by the king, to take over the kingdom. Not that there aren't reasons to think Muschamp could do well -- very well, even -- in a different kingdom, but it's a bigger risk for Florida than it will be for Texas handing him the keys to a car he's been training to drive. Mix all your favorite metaphors -- the bottom line is that Florida's almost certain to gun for a replacement with head coaching experience. If Texas weren't training Muschamp, they'd do the same when Brown retired.
- You can count on one hand the number of jobs that would make Florida a lateral move. Texas is one of them. From the recruiting, to the faculty-angering finances, to the championship potential, and on down the list, Texas is second to none. Certainly not after what Mack Brown's done to wake the sleeping giant.
- The timing is terrible. Assuming Meyer is retiring and not pausing, Jeremy Foley will need to move quickly on a replacement, and Will Muschamp is not in the best position to take on that kind of distraction. This is not to say that he couldn't if he wanted to. But I'd bet my bottom dollar he won't.
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