How Long Will Muschamp Wait in Texas Before Jumping Ship?

Larry Burton (PCB, Fl.) 57-year-old Mack Brown is under contract with Texas until the year 2016, or until he's 62. Will Wil Muschamp wait six more years to see what happens?

Unlike the contract with Jimbo Fisher and Florida State, where Jimbo knew the latest date he would be made coach, there is no timetable for Muschamp to take over, and there's always the question of what would happen if Brown wanted to stay on after 2016.

At $900,000 a year, Muschamp is the highest-paid assistant in college football, but is it high enough?

If the right team comes calling with a three-million-plus offer, would he stay and wait another five years for that kind of payday?

While Texas fans certainly hope so, most writers feel he wouldn't. At least the salary he's making now keeps him from jumping at jobs like Texas Tech and so forth, but if an Arkansas or LSU called, could he turn them down?

Most think not.

The whole coach-in-waiting puts an assistant and the head coach in a place that could be uncomfortable, as it was at Florida State, or go smoothly as it did at Kentucky, when Joker Phillips took over from Rich Brooks.

Most feel instead of coach-in-waiting, it's more like circling buzzards.

Having a coach-in-waiting certainly would tend to make pulling the trigger on a head coach with a bad season easier—just ask Bobby Bowden.

This is certainly an experiment not every team is willing to jump into, and certainly not something that seems to be gaining momentum.

But as the years go by and programs try and lock up good assistants, it is something we may see more of.