Florida Football: Time for Will Muschamp to Panic About Midseason Firing

After losing eight games last season, Florida head coach Will Muschamp was on the hot seat.

After needing triple overtime to beat Kentucky, getting outgained by 445 yards at Alabama, barely edging past Tennessee and losing to LSU, he was on the really hot seat.

But after losing 42-13 to Missouri—a team one week removed from a 34-0 home loss to Georgia—Muschamp has somehow made his bleak job outlook even bleaker. The seat on which he currently sits makes last week's seat look frigid, like an Inuit La-Z-Boy.

He is no longer just on the hot seat. He's on the so-hot-his-home-crowd-chants-loudly-for-his-firing seat:

Florida's offense was a comedy of errors against Missouri—which is to say, business as usual.

Quarterbacks Jeff Driskel and Treon Harris were both ineffectual in the first half, after which Florida trailed 20-0, combining for 33 passing yards on 13 attempts and turning the ball over thrice.

But things did not unravel in earnest until the third quarter, when Missouri running back Marcus Murphy returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown—his second return-for-score of the game—defensive end Markus Golden returned a Driskel fumble 21 yards for a touchdown and linebacker Darvin Ruise returned a Driskel interception 46 yards for a touchdown.

And that was just the first four possessions!

When the fusillade was over, Missouri led 42-0. Actually, to be precise: Missouri led 42-0 despite having gained just 97 yards of offense. That is one point for every 2.3 yards it had gained. 

"Some of our guys need to…look in the mirror," parried Muschamp in his postgame press conference, per David Jones of FloridaToday.com. "They need to play better."

They also need to be taught how to play.

Muschamp has failed egregiously to develop an offense since arriving in 2011—and that extends far past the quarterbacks. The running backs don't know how to run. The blockers don't know how to block. The receivers don't know how to receive.

The change of offensive coordinators from Brent Pease to Kurt Roper has done nothing. Roper was a Broyles Award finalist after helping Duke reach the ACC Championship Game last season, but even a man with a veritable miracle on his resume is no match for the deeply embedded mediocrity of this offensive depth chart.

Muschamp has allowed three classes of highly regarded prospects to become sloppy, soft, mistake-prone offensive players. He's a defensive guy, but all of this has happened on his watch.

For that, he's the one who will get blamed.

Rob Foldy/Getty Images

It is difficult to predict midseason firings.

Unreliable Internet persons with imaginary sources can attempt to spread reports, but the truth is that a team like Florida, which still has a chance to make a bowl game, might be better-served waiting until the end of the season to decide on Muschamp's future. 

But just last season, USC fired Lane Kiffin after a loss to Arizona State that resembled Florida's loss to Missouri in terms of ugliness. It replaced him with assistant coach Ed Orgeron, who quickly turned the Trojans' season around, salvaging a proud program's dignity.

Florida is just as proud as USC, although one could be forgiven for failing to remember that. Ron Zook was chased out of town with pitchforks for losing 14 of 37 games between 2002 and 2004.

Muschamp has lost 12 of his last 19 games.

All of this explains the fretful mood about the program, the feeling that something big might happen soon. It explains why experts such as Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports think Muschamp is about to be canned.

"I am really concerned about this football team," said Muschamp when asked about concerns for his job, per Florida reporter Morgan Moriarty.

If you're concerned about something, set it free.