Nov 16, 2013; Columbia, SC, USA; Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp and Florida Gators linebacker Darrin Kitchens (49) celebrate a South Carolina Gamecocks missed field goal in the second quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
Will Muschamp, the new defensive coordinator of the Auburn football team, has led his unit to a top ten ranking ten times in 12 seasons as a head coach or DC. Which unit was his best?
As the Auburn Tigers continue spring practice, defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and the rest of the Tigers defensive coaches are in the process of installing a new system.
Muschamp was hired to breathe new life into a unit that ranked amongst the SEC’s worst in 2014. The Tigers allowed 398.8 yards per game last season, and a staggering 487.7 yards on average across the team’s last seven games against FBS opponents – five of which the team lost. Auburn also allowed 31 points or more in each of those seven games.
Based on his track record, Muschamp appears to be the right man for the job.
At LSU, Muschamp won an SEC title and National Championship. In his first stint as defensive coordinator of the Auburn football team, Muschamp was a finalist for the 2007 Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top assistant coach, thanks to his role leading the SEC’s best defense. That year, the Tigers ranked sixth nationally in total defense, pass defense and scoring defense.
In 2008, Muschamp’s first season as the defensive coordinator of the Texas Longhorns, Brian Orakpo won the Lombardi Award, Nagurski Trophy and Hendricks Award and Sergio Kindle finalist for Butkus Award and Hendricks Award. The following season, the Longhorns won the Big 12 and played in the BCS National Championship Game.
His performance as a defensive coordinator at LSU, Auburn and Texas made Muschamp an attractive hire as the head coach of the Florida Gators. Though things didn’t work out from a won-loss standpoint in Gainesville, Muschamp’s teams consistently ranked among the best defensively in the SEC.
In fact, Will Muschamp has led a defense ranked in the nation’s top ten statistically in every year he has been an SEC defensive coordinator. In 12 seasons as either a head coach or coordinator, Muschamp has fielded ten defenses ranked in the nation’s top ten.
But what teams were the best of the best? Let’s take a look:
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