DELAND – Some of the questions were soft balls. When’s your first game, one kid asked Florida coach Will Muschamp. He told the little boy September, and he was welcome to come. Another child in the audience asked how the cheerleaders were doing.
As Muschamp wrapped up his tour of Gator Clubs around the state in Volusia County on Tuesday, he faced some new questions but mostly more of the same that he’d answered in different venues around the state.
Will practices be open to the public? He hasn’t decided yet, but he’s going for the element of surprise.
What about the beach house he owns with Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher? “I’m gonna own that. Fully. Shortly,” he quipped.
How will he run Friday Night Lights? “I can’t really talk about recruiting. These internet guys, they’ll tell the NCAA on me,” he said.
As expected, that drew applause and laughter from the orange- and blue-clad fans in attendance. Like all the other stops on the tour, fans in Volusia County seemed to take an instant liking to Muschamp’s one liners, Southern drawl and insight into where the program is headed. One man stood during the question-and-answer session to thank him for becoming the Gators’ coach.
For Muschamp, the tour was equally educational.
“Florida’s Florida. It’s very unique in it’s own right. People call it the Gator Nation for a reason,” he said. “It’s a strong place, and being in the state of Florida, having the resources, the revenue, the recruiting base, the fan support.
“Florida’s very different, in a very positive way just from the expectations. You want to coach at a place that has high expectations.”
As things wrapped up at the Volusia County Fairgrounds, one more young boy asked a question.
“Can I come see your game some time,” he asked, to plenty of laughter.
“Yeah, you can come all you want,” Muschamp told him.
Some other notes from the final Gator Gathering:
– Muschamp was happy with the team’s APR. Scores measuring academic progress were released by the NCAA on Tuesday, with the football program increasing its score by five points from 2008-09.
“Our academic staff, Dr. Carodine, Keith Carodine, they do a phenomenal job,” he said.
Muschamp added that more than 50 players had GPAs of 2.8 or higher in the spring.
– Skype is helping with recruiting. While Muschamp can’t go on the road to evaluate recruits, he is keeping in touch with his staff via Skype. A UF spokesman confirmed that Muschamp has used it to speak to some recruits.
– Muschamp hasn’t gotten grief for his Georgia guarantee. Speaking in Atlanta last week, the former Bulldog jokingly told fans he could guarantee a win in the rivalry game this year. Muschamp said Tuesday he hasn’t gotten calls from his former teammates.
“No, that was a little taken out of context, in my opinion,” he said. “These things now with you guys, you can’t say anything anymore. You can’t have fun, you can’t joke, you can’t do anything. And then they get mad at me about coach speak. That’s all you can hear now, because of those things in your hands.”
