GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ray Goff knew Will Muschamp's first job out of college wasn't going to work out.
It's not that Goff thought the personable Muschamp wouldn't make a fine lumber salesman, but as he drove around one day on the job with Muschamp and another of his former players, Muschamp was more interested in talking about weak-side blitzes than the pressure-treated pine he was trying to sell for YellaWood.
“He told me he was thinking about going into coaching,'' said Goff, the former University of Georgia coach who led the Bulldogs during Muschamp's time there as a hard-hitting free safety from 1991-94. “I tried to tell him, 'Don't go into coaching, man, you get fired.'
“I don't think he liked selling lumber. It doesn't shock me that he is a coach.''
But Goff has to laugh at the coincidence of last Saturday night when news broke that Muschamp was hired as Florida's new head coach to replace Urban Meyer. Goff just happened to be in Gainesville a few miles from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for a Christmas party held by a company he does business for in Georgia.
As head coach-in-waiting at Texas, Muschamp was supposed to take over the Longhorns once Mack Brown stepped down. Instead, the former Bulldogs co-captain is now head Gator, a position that caused problems for Goff during his stint as Georgia's head coach from 1989-95.
Goff won his first game against Florida, but he lost six in a row once Steve Spurrier arrived and, yep, Goff got fired. While he finds a tinge of irony in where Muschamp's coaching career has landed him one of the top head coaching jobs in the country, Goff has mixed emotions considering he is a Georgia graduate and lifelong Bulldog.
“He's not a dummy. He'll do well,'' Goff said. “I don't have any concerns about Will. The bad thing is I'm not sure it's good for us here at Georgia. It is good news and bad news.''
FULL CIRCLE
In the streets around Gainesville, Muschamp's hiring fits into the good news category considering his background.
Muschamp was born in Rome, Ga., and he later walked on at Georgia after considering trying out for the Gators. Muschamp's fondness for the Gators started at an early age after the family moved to Gainesville and his father, Larry, became headmaster at Oak Hall School.
In the backyard at 1122 N.W. 22nd Street, Muschamp used to pretend to be Gators safety Tony Lilly while his older brothers Mike and Pat underwent their own transformations – Mike into quarterback Wayne Peace and Pat into receiver Tyrone Young. No surprise Will preferred to play defense.
Brian Pickens, a prominent Gainesville surgeon, remembers those days well. Pickens played basketball and football with Muschamp at Oak Hall and once roomed with him when they went to Puerto Rico for a basketball tournament.
Pickens was nowhere near the athlete Will was. Few were. Pickens' brother David was a senior quarterback at Oak Hall when seventh-grader Will made the varsity. Brian Pickens recalls Muschamp's success being fueled by more than his man-amongst-boys athleticism.
Muschamp looked at sports differently than the rest of the kids.
“One time after practice he came over to me and said, 'I meant to tell you that there was a play that I could have really taken you out. But it could have been a clip, so that's why I held back.' I didn't even know what a clip was,'' Pickens said. “That was the way Will was even back then.
“He was football, football, football.''
At his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Muschamp touched on his time growing up in Gainesville and when Florida football first entered his blood. He used to go to games with his family. They would walk right off University Avenue and down to their north end-zone seats when Florida Field was covered by artificial turf.
Muschamp even recalled specific games, mentioning UF's 17-9 victory over USC in the second game of the 1982 season as one of his favorite memories. He reminded Florida fans of former Gator greats such as Wilber Marshall and Lilly.
Lilly has never met Muschamp but received an e-mail Wednesday morning from a former high school coach who now lives in Jacksonville. The coach had watched Muschamp's press conference and told Lilly that he had mentioned old No. 18 by name.
“He really made my day,'' said Lilly, now head coach at C.D. Hylton High in Woodbridge, Va. “He made an old guy feel pretty good. I had no idea he had grown up in Gainesville. I'm excited about it. I'm definitely going to make a trip down to Gainesville and get back there.''
Lilly's enthusiasm over Muschamp's hiring is indicative of many Gators fans this week. They knew about Muschamp's work as a defensive coordinator, but now that they know more of his story and watched his charged-up introduction, his popularity has grown.
Plus, Muschamp's history at Florida and Georgia – one of the nation's top rivalries for several decades – adds an intriguing subplot. The Florida job was one Muschamp couldn't pass up when athletic director Jeremy Foley made him an offer.
“The University of Florida is a powerful place,'' Muschamp said. “There's an awful lot of Gators in this state. I recruited against them for a long time, so I know. I'm glad to have the right orange and blue on this time.''
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
When talking to those who knew Muschamp long before he made a name for himself as one of college football's up-and-coming young coaches, you hear the same words over and over as they describe the 39-year-old.
Passionate. Driven. Intelligent. Competitive. Fiery.
“Will is a tremendous competitor and always has been,'' said former Georgia quarterback Eric Zeier, who roomed with Muschamp during their time in Athens. “The one thing that always stood out when we were playing was his work ethic, his competitiveness, his love of the game.
“It was evident from day 1. He absolutely loves the game of football. He would spend nights diagramming plays on a napkin. You knew right off the bat that it was in his wheelhouse to be a coach and make that part of his life.''
Muschamp arrived at Georgia in the summer of 1990 without a scholarship offer, only a dream to play college football. Soon, he was one of the players on the team everyone looked up to.
Muschamp had a stellar career, but the NFL out of reach for a player who maximized every ounce of potential he had through his tough-as-nails approach.
As a senior in 1994, his teammates voted him defensive co-captain to cement his place as one of the most memorable players of Goff's tenure.
“That should tell you what kind of character he has and what the players thought of him,'' Goff said. “He was a very physical, emotional guy. He enjoyed playing football. He was always out to prove he could do it.''
OVERCOMING ODDS
Muschamp's dream appeared in jeopardy in the spring of 1989. Playing left field for the Darlington School – a private school in Rome where his father served as an administrator after the family returned to Georgia following Will's eighth-grade year at Oak Hall – Muschamp suffered a severely fractured right leg.
The injury happened when Muschamp charged a short fly ball and collided with the team's shortstop. Sid Bell, the surgeon who repaired Muschamp's injury by placing a 17-inch steel rod into Muschamp's leg – Muschamp keeps the rod in a shadowbox in his office as a reminder – described the injury as “an open fracture of the mid-shaft of the tibia, which could have been career ending.''
Former Darlington head coach Jerry Sharp would tell the story for several years afterward to inspire his team, long after Muschamp had left town to pursue more dreams. One of Sharp's assistants back then – current Darlington head coach Tommy Atha – always enjoyed Sharp's most memorable recollection.
“The biggest thing Will was concerned with when he hit the ground – he is laying there with a broken thigh bone – he's holding the ball up and making sure he knows the umpire knows he caught the ball,'' Atha said. “Will has always had that fire in his eyes.''
Larry Muschamp figured his son's athletic career was finished when he first saw how serious his youngest son's injury was. Will played football, baseball, basketball and ran track in high school.
“It was that bad,'' Larry said at Tuesday's press conference. “I don't know how he did it. I would have stopped playing. He is just so driven. His mom [Sally] is kind of that way. I'm not.''
Muschamp rehabbed the injury tirelessly to make it back onto the field for his senior season of football. However, by that time the recruiting letters had dried up as the major schools backed off following the injury.
Muschamp plowed ahead, eventually showing up at Georgia and earning a spot on the roster.
Elbert Roberson Jr., a former high school teammate who was already a student at Georgia when Muschamp enrolled, isn't surprised to see Muschamp's climb through the coaching ranks once his playing days ended.
From afar, Roberson sees the same Muschamp who used to drill the 150-pound Roberson in practice every day as the one now famous for his chest bumping players on the sideline during games.
“He was a great athlete,'' Roberson said. “He could fly. Even after his injury, he could move. Back at that time at a private school, it was something to see. We're proud of what he has accomplished.
“I know he has worked hard at it. He always had the work ethic.''
More than 20 years later, Bell remembers Muschamp for more than the gruesome injury he overcame.
“He was a really stand-out young man. I practiced orthopedics and sports medicine here for 34 years and worked with a lot of athletes in that time,'' Bell said. “Will stands out as one of the finest young athletes I ever encountered. Besides his athletic abilities, he was always polite and courteous to everyone.
“He was one of the most motivated, hard-working patients I ever had the pleasure of working with.''
HIS TRUE CALLING
Once Muschamp decided selling lumber wasn't for him, he launched his coaching career as a graduate assistant for two seasons (1995-96) with the help of many, including Bob Jordan, an Auburn alum and mayor of Fort Payne, Ala.
Jordan first met Muschamp when his daughter, Sally, started dating Muschamp's older brother Pat. Pat and Sally later married. Jordan was immediately impressed by Will's focus and intensity.
Knowing Muschamp wanted to become a coach, Jordan made a call to former Auburn assistant Wayne Hall on Muschamp's behalf, as did others.
“He's a fine young man,'' Jordan said. “Florida did a great job when they chose Will to head their program up. He's full of energy. There won't be any dull moments. You'll know where he stands.''
Once his daughter married into the family, Jordan got a first-hand glimpse at how football shaped the family. Mike, a former assistant at Darlington under Sharp, is now head coach at the Lovett School in Atlanta. Pat played at Army, and Larry played at North Carolina and later became a high school coach.
“It's a great family and a lot of fun knowing them and visiting with them over the years,'' Jordan said. “His dad and I played high school sports against each other. We yak back and forth. His mother and dad, they of course are for whatever team Will is coaching. We always give them a hard time about their [dedication] to one team.''
After Auburn, where Muschamp first worked with current Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, Muschamp moved on to West Georgia for a season as secondary coach.
In 1999, he joined veteran coach Roy Kidd's staff at Eastern Kentucky as a defensive assistant. Kidd had an opening on his staff and received a call one day from an interested Muschamp. Kidd made some calls, liked what he heard, and quickly hired him.
Kidd told his wife, Sue, that he had hired real gem. He also told her not to expect him to hang around long.
“He knows what he is doing,'' Kidd said. “He has an obvious repertoire with players. I was so impressed with him at practice. It doesn't shock me to see Will move up the way he has.''
Kidd was right. Muschamp spent one season at Eastern Kentucky before leaving for his first job as a defensive coordinator at Valdosta State.
Muschamp blew away then-Valdosta State coach Chris Hatcher the same way he did Kidd during their initial meeting.
“Within five minutes of interviewing him, I knew he was a good coach,'' said Hatcher, who just completed his first season as Murray State's head coach. “I knew I wanted him on my staff. He is an intense coach, hard worker and extremely smart.
“You talk ball with him for five minutes, and you know the guy knows what he's talking about.''
In his only season at Valdosta State, Muschamp helped the Blazers win 10 games and caught the eye of Fisher – LSU's offensive coordinator at the time. Fisher recommended Muschamp to then-LSU coach Nick Saban, who hired Muschamp as linebackers coach in 2001 and later promoted him to defensive coordinator.
As Muschamp moved onto a much bigger stage in the SEC and later a season in the NFL with Saban at Miami, he never failed to deliver building strong defenses.
Now he gets a shot running his own team. No one who knows Muschamp well doubts him.
“He's just a good football coach and a good person,'' said Kidd, who retired in 2002 after 39 years at Eastern Kentucky. “You could just tell he was special.''
Years ago, Goff advised Muschamp not to go into coaching. Today, he knows his former player made the right decision to quit that job selling lumber.
Muschamp had a true calling to chase.
“He is a natural because he has the work ethic, the character,'' Goff said. “He is an outstanding person. I couldn't be happier for him.''
