Billy D praises Muschamp, the man
Friday, November 21, 2014 | Baseball, Men's Basketball, Football, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Billy Donovan is one of the most loyal friends and colleagues someone could ever have. As such, it came as no surprise the UF basketball coach had nothing but praise for outgoing Gators football coach Will Muschamp.
“I don't know all the ins and outs of their team and what their challenges were or any of those other things,” Donovan said Thursday. “I do know this from a coaching standpoint: standing back and watching him handle [himself], I think the guy's been an incredible man. He's handled himself in an incredibly professional way in a very, very difficult circumstance.”
UF announced following Sunday, a day after a 23-20 overtime loss at South Carolina, that Muschamp -- 27-20 in four seasons and 17-15 against Southeastern Conference opponents -- would not return to coach the team in 2015.
Over the course of Muschamp's time with the Gators, he and Donovan have often spoken, exchanged text messages and sometimes been guests at each other's practices. In fact, Muschamp (left) was invited by Donovan to address the UF basketball team over the summer. With the Gators saying goodbye to the winningest class in school history and coming off am SEC championship and Final Four season, Muschamp message to the 2014-15 players was that nothing was automatic just because they wore the Florida uniform.
He used his 4-8 team as an example.
The last couple years, when the subject turned to football, Donovan often spoke of how impressed he was that Muschamp took a 7-6 team from his first season -- one that he flatly called “soft” in a fiery news conference after a loss to Florida State -- and turned it into an 11-2 team that contended for a championship.
That told Donovan the guy could coach.
What also impressed Billy D about his football friend was that Muschamp always was not only true to his principles, but also true to himself as a person away from the football field.
“I get the bottom line is people want to see more games won on every level,” Donovan said, speaking as a coach about coaches. “But what we do is not who we are. To me, as a man, Will has been able to separate that and I think that's been really, really impressive. ... I think who he was really showed up under some adverse pressure situations.”
Muschamp's willingness to point a finger at himself -- after games and certainly at his news conference Monday -- was proof of that.
“He'll be missed here ... as a person,” Donovan said.
