Will Muschamp's job as head football coach at the University of Florida (UF) is safe through the end of the season, meaning he may have nine more games to save it.
The Florida Gators began their season with victories over East Michigan and Kentucky, though the latter took three overtimes to seal the win. They are however coming off a 42-21 loss to Alabama and will play Tennessee on the road next weekend.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley said he will determine Muschamp's future with the football program based on a complete season's worth of games. Muschamp is in his third year as the Gators head coach, but it is his first job as such.
Before taking over for Urban Meyer, an extremely successful Gators coach, Muschamp was the defensive coordinator under Mack Brown at Texas. This year, Florida's defense is allowing 24 points per game, though their offense is managing a 40-point output on average.
"You never judge or evaluate a program based on one game or one season," Foley said on the "Open Mike" radio show for 790 The Game in Orlando. "That's just not how we do things here. We're going to evaluate where we're headed - where the players are, how is recruiting going, what type of staff we have, are we better?"
Muschamp went 11-1 before losing in the Sugar Bowl with the Gators in his first season, 4-8 in the second and is now off to a 2-1 start, though he has split his two games against SEC foes. Even though his team came away with a win against Kentucky, the coach was audibly frustrated with his team's recent performances, ESPN reported.
"We stunk on defense," Muschamp said in his weekly teleconference Wednesday. "I'm extremely disappointed two games in a row of giving up the big plays we've given up defensively. We've got to get some things tied together better on the back end. That's the bottom line.
"The mistakes we've made in some situations back there are inexcusable."
