COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – South Carolina fired football coach Will Muschamp on Sunday, the second time he was released from a Southeast Conference program in the middle of the season.
The school said in a statement that Muschamp was “excused” from his duties on the football program. Atlético director Ray Tanner said first-year offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, a former Colorado State coach, will take over as interim coach.
Muschamp, 49, had four years left on his contract. Your purchase of the school is $ 13.2 million.
Gamecocks are 2-5 and lost their third straight game, 59-42, at Ole Miss on Saturday night. It was a particularly striking defensive effort for Muschamp, a defensive coordinator of the national championship at LSU in 2003, to see his team give up 1,779 yards and 159 points in those three defeats.
“It is worrying,” said Muschamp after the rebels had accumulated 708 attack yards. “There is no doubt about it.”
Tanner said he did a thorough assessment of the football program and decided it was time for a change.
“I appreciate all that Will Muschamp has done for our program and wish him and his family the best in the future,” said Tanner in a statement. “I believe that our program will be well served by Coach Bobo as the interim coach as we seek a new leader for Gamecock Football.”
Muschamp was Florida’s head coach for 2011-14 and was sacked in November of his last season after an overtime loss to South Carolina.
Muschamp’s stays with the Gators and Gamecocks were eerily similar. He took Florida for a BCS bowling and an 11-2 marks his second year there before going 10-13 before his dismissal there.
In South Carolina, Muschamp became the first coach to reach bowling in his first three seasons and was 9-4 in his second season. But Gamecocks have dropped to 7-6, 4-8 and 2-5 since then. He was 17-22 against Southeast Conference competitions in South Carolina.
Things have been particularly bad for the past two years. South Carolina won an impressive 20 to 17 victory in overtime in then-placed Georgia in 2019. But the team has lost 11 of its 14 games since then.
Tanner and the school’s president, Robert Caslen, met with football players and the team to tell them about the change.
Caslen called Muschamp a “true professional” who helped players succeed in the classroom and in the community. “However, I believe it is time to move in a different direction,” he said.
Caslen said the search for a new coach will begin immediately and that Tanner, who was criticized by some South Carolina fans during the football team’s struggles, will be the one to find Muschamp’s replacement.
Bobo was released from Colorado State after five seasons in 2019. Muschamp brought him in to start an offense that was close to the bottom of the SEC.
Now, Bobo will have to help Gamecocks regroup with three games remaining on their fully SEC schedule.
South Carolina has two home games against Missouri on Saturday and No. 13, Georgia, on November 28. The regular season ends on December 5 in Kentucky.
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