Why would you say WM is going to UT for a pay cut? It is what it is, more money and a challenge he's stoked about. http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/01/05/0105texfoot.html
According to the article you linked he will be making the same money he was scheduled to make at AU so no pay raise. It is a new challenge at a great football program but AU was still a new challenge at a great football program. It's not like Muschamp has been at one place for a long time and needs a change, he's been jumping around more than a mexican jumping bean the last 4 years. There may be nothing to it, but on the surface it does appear very strange that he would leave AU so soon when he is making great pay as an assistant and having great success. JMO
Not to insult any of our friendly Auburn posters (Deceks specifically) and I may get bashed for saying this, but if WM wants to become a head coach at some point (I don't think I've ever heard many coaches say, "no thanks, I just want to be a coordinator"), but Texas is a higher profile school in the eyes of the majority of the nation. Do you think a 13-0 Texas team would have been snubbed from any share of a national title??? For whatever reason, even though the SEC is widely considered the more supperior conference, a Texas team with the same record as an Auburn team, will almost always be considered the better team. Tubby has done a phenominal job recruiting for Auburn; a school similar to Iowa in that it's location isn't always a positive recruiting tool for out-of-state blue chippers. It's easier to sell a recruit on location when you're compairing Austin, TX vs Auburn, AL. And given the track record of both schools, Auburn DC's go on to Texas. Texas DC's go on to head coaching jobs. Not to say that Auburn doesn't have good enough coaches to be considered head coaching candidates, because we should all know that's not true, but I relate this to the NFL drafting loads of players from particular schools; once you know/see quality player after quality player come from one school, you're likely to keep going there yourself even though there might be another player from a lesser known program who is just as good.
Also, there is the arguement that WM can coach a defense to a conference title game quicker in the Big XII South with Texas (where usually their only road block is Oklahoma) than he could at Auburn when you likely have us and Nick Saban and 'Bama...not to mention Arkansas who should be better in a few years even though it pains me to give Petrino that much credit... Basically, WM can parlay a conference champion Longhorn defense into lots of publicity a lot quicker than he would have if he stayed at Auburn.
Fair enough and probably true. Texas also has much deeper pockets, a larger fan base. Bottom line, Coach Will probably puts himself in a better position to excel. His task is to stop offenses. Probably an easier job in the Big 12 than in the SEC.
I agree Texas has a slight advantage but only slight. I see staying at AU and fully establishing himself as a great defensive coach a slightly better choice than starting new at a very slightly better place if there are no problems at AU, especially since he has bounced around so much lately. AU is a big time program no matter how much I hate them(not our friendly visitors, just the team). WM definitely could have used a stellar career at AU as a spring board to a HC job.
I don't know that I'm saying that I view Texas as being definately better than Auburn....but I am saying that if you polled the country (not just the southeast), the results would show that more people view the Longhorns to be superior to the Tigers.
And it wouldn't even be close! AU is just a losing season form being a has been, sorry Barners but that's life. WM made the smart move here getting out of there and going to a program that has an unlimited supply of top tier athletes, hell you can't blame him for taking the job.
Interesting article on WM's departure in today's Huntsville Times indicating some serious miscommunication between WM and the Auburn AD. I won't comment so as not to bias anyone with my opinion until you read the article. just read it carefully before you decide where you would place blame, if you would at all. www.al.com See article by Phil Marshall in Sports section. Hope the LSU Tigahs are ready for the big one. I'm really looking forward to some serious buckeye beatdown.
