Sometimes you just have to step on their throat

I'm just saying.

Last week when Urban Meyer announced his second retirement from the Florida Gators, I must say that I took it with a grain of salt. My reaction was a smirk and a “Didn’t he do this last year?” I was given the rest of the salt shaker though Saturday when Florida announced the hiring of former Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp as the new Gator head coach. My reaction this time was a full, broad smile.

Florida decided after Urban Meyer left that it would name Will Muschamp the new coach and while the Florida AD spun that Muschamp was the only candidate interviewed, you have to scratch your head as to why the Gators wouldn’t hire a proven head coach. The last time the Gators went for a coordinator with no head coaching experience was the Ron Zook experiment, and we know how that turned out. Muschamp’s resume is impressive: walk-on at Georgia, defensive coordinated a BCS national championship LSU squad in 2003, assisted in the NFL before returning to the SEC at Auburn and then served as Coach-in-waiting at Texas.

However he has not been a head man at any level, and despite his enthusiasm and his recruiting abilities, I am not ready to give him the SEC East crown just yet. Muschamp is going to experience what every new coach experiences as he moves from the coordinator’s headset to the head coach’s headset. The Gators will likely lose a game or two extra as Muschamp gets used to being in charge of the entire team instead of just one unit. And whoever the new Gator boss brings in as his coordinator, be it Major Applewhite from Texas or Dana Holgorsen from Oklahoma State, he will inherit a unit that went through offensive sludge at times last year and will likely do the same this year as it switches from Meyer’s spread to the new guy’s scheme.

Mark Richt and Georgia must take advantage of that. Sorry, but you are a new coach with one of the brightest spotlights in college football on you as you learn on the job. Thank Urban Meyer for the opportunity then curse the expectations he left behind. Richt lost to South Carolina and Auburn his first year in games he shouldn’t have lost, but it was chalked up to growing pains. Richt needs to make sure he steps on Muschamp’s throat if the situation arises at The Cocktail Party. Spurrier certainly did back in 2001.

And we’ll get to see how Muschamp does following one of the most successful runs in college football history: two BCS titles in six seasons in Gainesville. Meyer is a tough act to follow; possibly too tough for Dan Mullen and Chris Petersen.

Richt also needs to clean up this year on the recruiting trail in all of the battles he was waging head-to-head against Meyer. Two names come to mind from the Peach State in Ray Drew and Malcolm Mitchell. Drew is a defensive lineman that seemed shaken after Meyer resigned. In a recent interview, Drew made it seem like Florida was an afterthought, trailing both Georgia and LSU, but he was quite vocal about his surprise with Meyer’s departure. Mitchell meanwhile seemed like a perfect multi-faceted fit for Meyer’s Gators, but now, Mitchell might just decide to partner up with teammate Jay Rome to take their talents to Athens. As sterling as Muschamp’s reputation is, he has always been the set-up man to Mack Brown and Nick Saban, two of the best closers in the recruiting business. Now Muschamp himself will be the trump card and it might be interesting to see him flying with no safety net.

The bottom line for Mark Richt and Georgia is that Florida really seems like it is teetering with the hiring of a coach with no head coaching experience. And PS, the team is also coming off of a 7-5 regular season. Yesh. That is downright Zookian. With all due respect to defending East champ South Carolina and rebuilding Tennessee, Georgia and Florida ARE the SEC East. Richt needs to strike while the iron is hot: beat Muschamp in recruiting (which he might just do with the Georgia Dream Team); beat Muschamp in Jacksonville; take advantage of Muschamp learning against a brutal 2011 schedule which could net Florida an extra two losses. If Richt does that, then the Dawgs could be headed to Atlanta in early December. If Richt cannot take advantage of Muschamp as he grows into his new role, then Muschamp may be going up against a new coach at his alma mater in 2012.