Muschamp won't be head coach in waiting; Auburn expects word today

Phil Kornblut reported yesterday that if South Carolina ultimately hires Will Muschamp as its defensive coordinator, he won't receive the head-coach-in-waiting tag that he once held while at Texas under former head coach Mack Brown.

"(Ray) Tanner is not going for the guarantee thing," our source tells us.  "Spurrier wants to be part of picking his replacement and he likes Muschamp a lot."

The NCAA places different recruiting restrictions on head coaches than it does on assistant coaches, and after a wave of head coaches in waiting were announced a few years ago, they extended those restrictions to anyone holding that title.  As such, if Muschamp did receive that position at Carolina, it would inhibit his ability to recruit, one of the things that makes him such a good defensive coordinator.

It's been a relatively quiet week on Muschamp Watch, though things may pick up quickly.  Our friends at College and Magnolia report this morning that they anticipate Auburn will know by the end of the day whether Muschamp will come to the Plains.  If he doesn't, it doesn't make his hiring at South Carolina a slam dunk - there remains the possibility that Muschamp will go to the NFL, take a head coaching job (Michigan, Wisconsin, and Houston are three teams currently still in the market), or perhaps even find a different defensive coordinator position.

Still, if Auburn's out, the Gamecocks may leap into the driver's seat for Coach Boom as their next defensive coordinator.