Ray Tanner weighed in Friday on the South Carolina football program amid a trying 2019 season and as speculation swirls about head coach Will Muschamp's future with the Gamecocks.
"Today, I want to make it clear that Will Muschamp is our football coach and will be our coach going forward," the athletics director said in a statement ahead of USC's Saturday game at Texas A&M. "President (Bob) Caslen and I are fully supportive of his leadership and his development of student-athletes on and off the field. Coach Muschamp and our staff are dedicated to the success of Gamecock football. They have built a program where our team plays for each other and for our University, and they deserve our support. While we wish the outcome of some of our games would have been different, we are excited about the future of our program."
The season has two games remaining on the schedule, starting with a Saturday night clash with Texas A&M (6-3, 3-2 SEC) and ending with a visit from No. 3 Clemson (10-0) on Nov. 30. The Gamecocks (4-6, 3-4 SEC) aren't favored to win either game, meaning a 4-8 finish is possible in Muschamp's fourth season. His contract is through 2024 and has a current buyout of $19 million if USC were to make a move and part ways with Muschamp after this season.
The timing of Tanner's statement comes as the public and media have debated whether or not Muschamp would be the Gamecocks' coach after this season.
Members of the USC board of trustees told The State earlier this week _ and after a Gamecock loss to Appalachian State _ they were split on whether the school could afford such a hefty buyout.
President Caslen then told The Greenville News on Wednesday that Muschamp "will be my coach through the end of the season" and then receive the usual evaluation. His comments weren't universally viewed as an endorsement for Muschamp.
Tanner's statement, giving apparent stability to the coaching situation, comes just over a month from the start of the first football signing period (Dec. 18). The Gamecocks' in-progress 2020 recruiting class currently ranks No. 19 nationally.
Muschamp is 26-23 across nearly four years at South Carolina. The team is staring at its worst season since 2015 _ the year before Muschamp arrived _ and its second-worst since the infamous 0-11 campaign under Lou Holtz in 1999.
Muschamp on Tuesday made a point to hammer home that his staff won more games its first three years than any coaching staff in program history. But this year has gone awry with a USC team he called his most talented yet.
"We haven't won enough games," Muschamp said. "So that's the bottom line. The main progress that needs to be made is winning football games. We haven't made that progress.
"We actually have done a couple good things around here, OK. And we've had a very inconsistent year, and I'll continue to evaluate that and when the season is over, we'll make the decisions we need to make moving forward."
