Those who have followed LSU football long enough remember the chest bumps, fist pumps and mangled headsets from Will Muschamp’s days as LSU defensive coordinator.
At the time, there was nothing more exciting than seeing Muschamp sprint 15 yards onto the field to celebrate a big third down stop with his defense.
But now that Muschamp is the Florida head coach, critics are clamoring for his antics to slow down.
In reality, he shouldn’t change a thing.
Muschamp chased down officials at halftime during Saturday’s game against Tennessee to complain about pass interference calls on the Gator defense. He berated the officials for a good minute and had to be restrained by an assistant coach and escorted to the locker room.
This was viewed by many as childish, immature actions unbecoming of a head coach.
I wholeheartedly disagree.
Recruits want to play for Muschamp because of his fire and passion.
He’s much like his mentor, Nick Saban, who has nuclear meltdowns when his offensive linemen take 47-degree angles on a block instead of 45-degree angles. He’s akin to Nebraska coach Bo Pelini, who also had to be restrained by assistants last season while arguing with officials.
Saban and Pelini have turned their intensity into a persona of success. Muschamp is hoping to do the same.
Having high blood pressure and throwing wild tantrums is not a foolproof method to success, by any means. Plenty have won while keeping their cool. Just look at Joe Paterno at Penn State or Bob Stoops at Oklahoma. They hardly raise their voices and have won national titles.
But Paterno and Stoops have stayed loyal to themselves. They have a coaching approach and they stick to it.
 
So does Muschamp.
And right now he’s 3-0 and has the Gators looking like serious contenders to win the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division.
The only thing more entertaining than a Muschamp hissy fit this weekend was the two conference losses by SEC West rivals Auburn and Ole Miss.
The reigning national champions’ run as holder of the nation’s longest winning streak came to an end Saturday at 17 games, when it was upended, 38-24, by Clemson.
Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof appeared to have developed his defensive scheme in the early 1900s, as his defense was completely befuddled by the concept of the forward pass.
Auburn surrendered 624 total yards — 386 through the air — and four passing touchdowns. It also allowed Clemson to run 92 offensive plays.
The only real downside of the game was seeing Clemson fans rush the field after the game.
Clemson has won a national title, they’re not a Johnny-come-lately to the college football scene. You’ve reached the mountain top before, Clemson, please start acting like it.
 
The other loss worthy of a Verne Lundquist chortle was the 30-7 throttling of Ole Miss at the hands of Vanderbilt.
The Commodore defense intercepted five Rebel passes, and returned one for a touchdown.
To make matters worse for Ole Miss, Saturday marked its fifth loss in seven games to Vanderbilt.
Georgia coach Mark Richt is getting most of the attention for being the SEC coach on the hot seat, but with many more losses like this, Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt can’t be feeling too secure.
He sees the Rebel Black Bear crying, much like Colonel Reb did during the entire Ed Orgeron era.
 
Rob Landry is a 23-year-old mass communication senior from Mandeville, La. Follow him on Twitter @RobLandry85.
 
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Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]