Looking at the events of the last 10 days
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
It's been a wild 10 days in Columbia, South Carolina with two football losses, multiple statements and a lot of questions about Will Muschamp's future at South Carolina.
A lot's transpired over the last 240 hours, and GamecockCentral broken down exactly what's happened in the timeline below.
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Saturday, Nov. 9: South Carolina dropped a home game to Appalachian State 20-15, the first home loss to an non-Power 5 team since 2015 against the Citadel. The loss brought them to 4-6 on the season, meaning at that time the Gamecocks needed to win their last two games to make a bowl game.
Sunday, Nov. 10: Muschamp, on his weekly Sunday teleconference, said he "absolutely" feels supported by university president Bob Caslen and athletic director Ray Tanner at his job.
"Everybody’s been positive and supportive of what we need to do moving forward," Muschamp said. "We’re excited about where we are but where we’re moving. We’ve made a lot of strides, a lot of progress. We’re a program in the first three years with this staff won more games than anyone else has.”
Monday, Nov. 11: FootballScoop put out a report that Will Muschamp will likely return for the 2020 season but the university's administration wants to see major staff changes at the end of the season to get better results. GamecockCentral put a sourced report out about the future of the program and the future for Will Muschamp and Ray Tanner.
Tuesday, Nov. 12: Muschamp, in his weekly press conference, says the FootballScoop report is "absolutely false." He was also asked about staff changes and said any changes will be evaluated at the end of the season. He told reporters he is hoping for a "long tenure at South Carolina."
“This is a results business and it’s about winning game at the end of the day. We haven’t won enough games and that’s the bottom line. The main progress that needs to be made is winning football games,” he said. “We haven’t made that progress. Over a three-year period of time this staff’s won more games than any staff in school history. So we actually have done a couple good things around here, OK? We have had a very inconsistent year. I’ll continue to evaluate that to make the decisions we need to make moving forward.”
Wednesday, Nov. 13: Caslen tells the Greenville News that "Coach Muschamp is my coach. That's the message. He will be my coach through the end of the season."
He then goes on to say regardless of how the season ends, Muschamp will meet with university officials for a postseason evaluation.
“And then, just like any other coach that's out there, whether it's a soccer coach, whether it's the equestrian coach, whatever, they're going to do an end-of-year assessment, the athletic director does," the story includes. "Then, we'll see what’s up.”
Friday, Nov. 15: Tanner issues a statement in support of Will Muschamp about 24 hours before the Gamecocks' final SEC game at Texas A&M.
"Today, I want to make it clear that Will Muschamp is our football coach and will be our coach going forward. President Caslen and I are fully supportive of his leadership and his development of student-athletes on and off the field," the statement read. "Coach Muschamp and our staff are dedicated to the success of Gamecock football. They have built a program where our team plays for each other and for our University, and they deserve our support. While we wish the outcome of some of our games would have been different, we are excited about the future of our program."
Saturday, Nov. 16 (11 p.m. ET): The Gamecocks lost 30-6 to the Aggies, dropping South Carolina to 4-7 (3-5 SEC) and killing any chance of a bowl bid. The Gamecocks scored a season-low six points and put up 102 yards in the second half.
Saturday, Nov. 16 (11:20 p.m. ET): Muschamp says in his postgame press conference he expects Bryan McClendon to call plays against Clemson.
Saturday, Nov. 16 (11:23 p.m. ET): Will Muschamp, asked postgame about Tanner's statement, said support from Caslen, Tanner and the university's Board of Trustee's hasn't wavered and still feels incredibly supportive.
He said he still plans on taking the program to places it had never been before, saying the Gamecocks are "not as far off as people seem to think we are."
Sunday, Nov. 17: Muschamp doubles down on staff changes, saying they'll evaluate that after the season. He said McClendon's been frustrated with the offensive output and he has as well.
“Obviously my messages haven’t worked each Sunday,” Muschamp said when asked about what the conversations were like. “We got to try and find ways to be more productive to put guys in different spots to be successful. Whatever we’re doing’s not working, so we need to change. We’ll look forward to some more changes moving forward as far as what we can do to be more successful and more productive.”
Monday, Nov. 18: Another GamecockCentral report on the state of the program.
Monday, Nov. 18 (6:48 p.m. ET): The Florence Morning News posts a story quoting Caslen saying while he hasn't done it, Tanner reached out to Florida State officials to see how they handled firing Willie Taggart, whose buyout was similar to Muschamp's now.
“If we’re totally imploding and no one shows up, I’d say we’ll have a discussion,” Caslen told the paper about what happens if they lose to Clemson. “But there’s no desire intended to make a change.”
Caslen told the Florence paper his quotes from the Greenville News were said three minutes apart.
Monday, Nov. 18 (10:11 p.m. ET): The university communications released a statement from Caslen trying to "set the record straight" about his recent comments.
"Let me set the record straight: Athletics Director Ray Tanner did not speak with anyone at Florida State University about coaching contracts," the statement read.
Because it's a bye week, Will Muschamp will not have his weekly press conference Tuesday. He'll be available to media Wednesday during the SEC Teleconference, again at his weekly call in show—this week on Wednesday—and again to the media for his Sunday teleconference.
The Gamecocks host Clemson Nov. 30 at noon on ESPN.
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