South Carolina parts ways with football coach Will Muschamp, sources say
South Carolina has parted ways with football coach Will Muschamp in the aftermath of the Gamecocks' third straight straight loss, a 59-42 setback to Ole Miss on Saturday, sources told ESPN.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo will be the Gamecocks' interim coach, a source told ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. Bobo is the former head coach at Colorado State.
The Gamecocks (2-5) have allowed a total of 159 points during their three-game losing streak and gave up 708 yards of total offense in the loss to Ole Miss.
Muschamp, in his fifth season as South Carolina's coach, was 28-30 overall. Muschamp recorded more wins in his first three seasons (22) than any coach in school history and trailed only Steve Spurrier (28) after four seasons as South Carolina's coach.
But the Gamecocks finished 4-8 a year ago and have lost 14 of their past 20 games dating back to the 28-0 Belk Bowl defeat to Virginia to end the 2018 season.
According to the terms of Muschamp's contract, his buyout was in the $15 million range if he were to be fired at the end of this season.
This is the second time Muschamp has been fired from an SEC head-coaching job. He was dismissed by Florida toward the end of the 2014 season and coached the final two games before stepping away. He spent the 2015 season at Auburn as the Tigers' defensive coordinator.
Muschamp's combined head-coaching record at South Carolina and Florida is 56-51. In his second season at Florida in 2012, he was named the SEC's Co-Coach of the Year along with Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin. Muschamp took over for Urban Meyer at Florida and for Spurrier at South Carolina.
Liberty's Hugh Freeze and Louisiana's Billy Napier are expected to be among the top targets to replace Muschamp, along with Shane Beamer, Oklahoma's assistant head coach for the offense.
