Trading Places: Muschamp's Bulldog-Turned-Gator Story Has Both Sides of Border Talking
Friday, October 28, 2011 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In strictly a navigational sense, one can travel between Will Muschamp's two hometowns fairly easy. The majority of the 400 miles from Gainesville to Rome, Ga. – two Southern towns sharing many similar traditions and demographics – are spent on I-75.
If you're driving south, you can be at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in 10 minutes after exiting the interstate. If you're driving north, once you exit I-75 you can be at The Darlington School where Muschamp played baseball and football in half an hour.
But once the Florida-Georgia game kicks off Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville, Rome and Gainesville will seem like places in two different worlds. Muschamp might have been born in Rome and finished high school there following a 10-year stint in Gainesville, but that won't be enough to spare him from detest in Northwest Georgia for at least a few hours.
“There's a buzz around town,'' said Rhett Butler, vice president of The Darlington School's Athletic Booster Club. “We are definitely a red-and-black town. He is one of our own, but this week he won't be.''
Butler met Muschamp over the summer and came away impressed. He attended Georgia during the Herschel Walker glory years and remains an avid Bulldogs fan. Butler's son, Brad, is the starting quarterback at The Darlington School and two of his son's teammates – Jordan and Robert Muschamp – are Will's nephews.
Still, there's something about seeing Muschamp in orange and blue that just doesn't seem right to Butler. Can that really be the same No. 30 who used to be hard-hitting safety in red and black trying to knock Gators silly?
The shock of that reality had begun to fade for Butler and fellow Bulldogs in places like Rome and Athens and Lawrenceville until recently. And then it all resurfaced because the schedule said it was Florida-Georgia week.
They say they can't root for Muschamp – no way that's happening. Still, they say they will like him once Saturday turns into Sunday morning and normalcy returns.
At least that's what they have been telling Larry Muschamp, Will's father, about this most unusual border war between the Gators and Bulldogs.
“I've got a lot of friends up here who are obviously big Georgia boosters,'' said Larry Muschamp, who now lives just across the Alabama state line a few miles from Rome. “They give me a hard time. They say we'll root for him every game but one – this one.''
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The storyline of Muschamp facing his alma mater for the first time as head coach of the Gators has been a popular theme leading up to Saturday's game. According to Georgia's research, Muschamp is only the third former Bulldogs player since at least the 1950s to face his former team as a head coach of another school.
The last time it happened was in 1992 during former Auburn coach Pat Dye's final season. Ole Miss was coached by former Bulldog Ken Cooper from 1974-77.
Muschamp tried his best to deflect the focus away from him, saying any stories written about his ties to Georgia would be “wasted ink.''
If that's true, there has been a lot of wasted ink in newspapers all across the South the past few days.
“Wherever I played has no bearing on this game at all,'' Muschamp said Monday. “This profession is different than a lot of professions in that you do your job for the school you're working for. I don't mean any disrespect to anyone, but I'm loyal to people, not places.''
If former Gators coach Steve Spurrier had been around the office on a summer day in 1990, the Muschamp story would have a totally different twist. What many seem to have forgotten is that before he became a Bulldog, Muschamp tried to become a Gator.
Muschamp and his parents visited Florida the summer after he graduated from The Darlington School to check on Muschamp perhaps playing for the Gators.
After a few hours of waiting and being told that Spurrier wasn't likely going to be around, the Muschamps hopped in their car and drove back up I-75 to Rome. Muschamp later walked on at Georgia and earned a scholarship and the respect of his coaches and teammates for his competitiveness and leadership qualities.
When Muschamp was hired to replace Urban Meyer last December, he heard from several of those former teammates through text messages and phone calls. They wanted to know if he had gone mad.
Former Bulldogs center David Weeks is now a restaurant owner in Athens and has nothing but respect for Muschamp. Still, it all seems a little confusing at times.
“There are people here who still can't get over an ex-Bulldog being the Gators coach,'' Weeks told the Tampa Tribune. “They think it's just plain weird.''
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Saturday's game has significant meaning to Muschamp in more ways than his connections to Georgia. He hopes to pick up his first victory in a Florida-Georgia game.
As a player at Georgia from 1991-94, the Bulldogs lost four consecutive games in the storied rivalry. After starting his head-coaching career with four consecutive wins, Muschamp's Gators enter with a three-game losing streak and are trying to avoid doing something they haven't done since Muschamp was back at The Darlington School – lose four consecutive games for the first time since 1988.
“We need a win for our program right now,'' said senior defensive tackle Jaye Howard.
The Gators have won 18 of the last 21 meetings between the schools, so history is on their side. Recent history is another story as they must face a Georgia team riding a five-game winning streak that has helped turn some of the heat off Bulldogs coach Mark Richt after back-to-back losses to open the season.
Some are saying the game is more important for Richt's future than Muschamp's present.
“Our fans always ask: 'Are you going to beat Florida? Are you going to beat Florida? Are you going to beat Florida?' '' Richt said this week. “We know we've not had a ton of success in Jacksonville lately and we have our work cut out for ourselves.''
Richt is 2-8 all-time against the Gators, his last win coming in 2007.
In Rome and towns all across the Peach State on Saturday, they will be pulling for the Bulldogs to swing the rivalry back in Georgia's favor against a familiar face. But they know a win won't be easy, not against old No. 30 in red and black.
“There is not a more competitive person,'' said Butler, whose passion for Georgia football is so strong he has the Bulldogs Club in Rome over the years. “When [Will] gets to sideline Saturday he won't see red and black on the other side. He'll just see another opponent he wants to beat.''
Muschamp's parents aren't coming to the game, knowing their youngest son won't have time to socialize in Jacksonville. Plus, they have already been to several Florida-Georgia games over the years, the first coming when they lived in Gainesville in the early 1980s. Larry Muschamp plans to watch the game at home and take it all in.
When Will Muschamp tells everyone he's a “Florida guy” these days, Larry Muschamp knows there's no other way his son would have it.
“It's a ballgame and he will coach his heart out,'' Larry said. “It doesn't matter where it is or who he is playing. That's just the way it is. For some reason people don't understand that. He loved Georgia. He played at Georgia and it was a wonderful place for him.
“But now he is at Florida.''
