South Carolina lost, at home, to Appalachian State on Saturday, which is bad no matter the context. But it’s especially bad in the context of South Carolina’s current season, where it dropped the Gamecocks to 4-6 on the year with games against Texas A&M and Clemson ahead, thereby making a 4-8 finish more likely than not.
Even if the Gamecocks miraculously win out, though, South Carolina has lost six or more games in three of four seasons under head coach Will Muschamp.
Still, despite all that, don’t expect Muschamp to join Willie Taggart and Chad Morris on the unemployment line.
According to reports Monday from FootballScoop and the ABC affiliate in Columbia, Muschamp is expected back for a fifth season in 2020. (Full disclosure: I also work for FootballScoop.)
Sources tell @abc_columbia that Will Muschamp is expected to return as head coach of the #Gamecocks next season.
— Mike Gillespie (@MikeABCColumbia) November 11, 2019
For those of you asking, Ray Tanner will also be back through 2020.
If South Carolina does lose to the Aggies and Tigers, Muschamp will stand at 26-25 overall and 15-17 in SEC play through his first four seasons. While they may not be thrilled treading water like that, they’re not displeased enough to swallow $19 million to buy him out plus the associated costs of dismissing its existing coaching staff to hire a new one.