South Carolina president: 'Muschamp is my coach ... through the end of the season'

University of South Carolina president Robert Caslen spoke with conviction Tuesday, as his index finger pressed into the conference table inside The Greenville News newsroom.

Caslen, a retired Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army and a former college athlete, passionately relayed his discontent with his first football season in Columbia. The Gamecocks stand at 4-6 after an embarrassing loss to Appalachian State on Saturday evening.

Yet, even after he clinched his chiseled chin in frustration, Caslen adamantly asserted that he is fully committed to South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp — at least for the final two games of this season.

"Coach Muschamp is my coach. That's the message. He will be my coach through the end of the season," Caslen said. “And then, just like any other coach that's out there, whether it's a soccer coach, whether it's the equestrian coach, whatever, they're going to do an end-of-year assessment, the athletic director does. Then, we'll see what’s up.”

Caslen encountered a similar situation earlier in his career.

On Dec. 14, 2013, five months into Caslen’s first year as superintendent at West Point, the Army football team suffered a 34-7 loss to rival Navy. Army finished with 3-9 record, its fourth losing season in five years under coach Rich Ellerson.

Four days later, Army fired Ellerson.

“When America puts its sons and daughters in harm’s way, they do not expect us to just ‘do our best,’ but to win,” Caslen wrote then in an email to West Point graduates “Nothing short of victory is acceptable. That fundamental ethos ... must be ingrained in every one of our athletic programs.”

In July, Caslen marched onto a vastly different campus to lead vastly different students who have vastly different career goals. But his expectation of excellence is no different.

Caslen acknowledged the Carolina football program has not met that expectation. To avoid the second losing season of Will Muschamp’s four-year tenure, South Carolina must defeat Texas A&M and rival Clemson in the final two games.

Muschamp has compiled a 26-23 record, including a 15-16 mark in the Southeastern Conference. He lost eight of his past 11 games against Power Five foes. He has dropped three consecutive games to Clemson.

Yet, Caslen recognized that, even if he wanted to, firing Muschamp would not be as easy as firing Ellerson was. According to figures compiled by USA TODAY Sports, in 2013, Ellerson’s total compensation from West Point was $401,500. This season, South Carolina will pay Muschamp $4.4 million.

On Dec. 18, 2018, South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner extended Muschamp’s contract one year through 2024, after the Gamecocks closed the regular season with a 7-4 record. Two weeks later, Carolina lost 28-0 to Virginia in the Belk Bowl.

According to the terms of Muschamp’s amended contract, if the university fired him without cause — and a losing record does not constitute cause —  the university would owe him 75 percent of his remaining guaranteed pay. Between now and Dec. 30, South Carolina would owe $19.4 million. On Dec. 31, the buyout decreases to $18.8 million.

“If I wanted to do that — I'm not saying I would — but where am I going to come up with $18 million?” Caslen asked. “There's so much more, as the president of a university, I could do with $18 million than to buy out a coach's contract.

“I could build a parking garage, or I could revamp the stadium. There are so many more things you could do. So, why would I do that?”

Caslen said South Carolina also must consider any mitigating contracts for Muschamp’s staff. Many assistant coaches have early termination clauses that would require South Carolina to pay the difference if the coaches’ next job did not pay the same salary.

“There's so many challenges with how they do it, but that's the new norm,” Caslen said. “You almost have to learn from this and ask, 'How do we adjust?' So, we'll have conversations with the athletic director.”

Before he was a lieutenant general in the Army, long before he was an academic administrator, Caslen was a center.

He snapped, blocked and battled on the offensive line at Army West Point from 1971 to 1974. Caslen recalled his playing days briefly but fondly Tuesday afternoon. He exhibited his deep knowledge of the game. He can assess the team far beyond the win-loss record.

“We could easily be 6 and 4. There are some things that have to be addressed in discipline, turnovers and penalties,” Caslen said, alluding to the fact that Carolina is ranked 55th among 130 Division I bowl subdivision teams in turnovers lost and 96th in penalty average.

“If you play disciplined football, then you're not going to have the turnovers, you're not going to have the penalties,” Caslen said. “If you're going to win games in the Southeastern Conference, you better put about 30 or 35 points on the board. You only get the ball 10 or 12 times a game, which means you're going to have to score half the time you get the ball. We can't afford to turn the ball over.

“Excellence means you're playing with discipline and you're playing with mental and physical toughness, that you pound people for one quarter, two quarters, three quarters, so that their tongue is hanging on the ground in the fourth quarter, and you have the perseverance to win the fourth quarter.”

Caslen said his administration will review institutional support to ensure the program is equipped with sufficient resources and aligned within the culture of excellence he aims to cultivate across the entire campus.

He confidently contended that, with the right leadership, Carolina could replicate the success its rival has enjoyed recently. Last week, Clemson sealed its ninth consecutive 10-win season. It is positioned to reach its fifth consecutive College Football Playoff.

Since 2014, Clemson has won two national championships, four Atlantic Coast Conference championships and five consecutive games against Carolina. According to Caslen, the first priority in revitalizing the program is ending that Palmetto Bowl losing streak.

“It was a failed philosophy at West Point to stop talking about beating Navy. You have to create a culture of excellence, and that's part of excellence,” said Caslen, who witnessed Ellerson’s replacement, Jeff Monken, snap a 13-game losing streak to Navy in 2016.

Army has won each of the past three meetings.

“I changed it at West Point,” Caslen said. “I'm going to change it here at USC.”