Will Muschamp and Nick Saban are quite familiar with each other. Muschamp worked under Saban at LSU and when they were in Miami as coaches of the Dolphins. Since 2011, Muschamp has been either a head coach (Florida) or a coordinator (Auburn's defensive coordinator) in the SEC so he is quite familiar with how Saban has adapted his game plans and recruiting tactics to match the needs for his team to win in the conference.
On JOX 94.5, Muschamp spoke about Saban's ability to adapt to trends in college football and why that makes him such a great coach.
"Back when I was at LSU with Nick Saban, we wanted to be a big, fast, physical team. Nick would not (emphasize) a smaller defensive end-type rusher like he has Tim Williams now," Muschamp said. "You've got to have more speed on the field. You've got to give and take a little bit, take away the size and girth to have more speed on the field, more pass rushers, more guys who can play in space.
"It's a space game right now. If you can't play in space — you're going to give up some size to have more speed on the field, because you're not facing the direct runs anymore. You look in the SEC, LSU and Arkansas are traditional two-back teams. That's out of the norm now. You're getting ready for one-back teams. Gus (Malzahn) will create some two-back runs, but it's a one-back game, a tempo game. You have to play fast and get on the ball."
That's a lot of praise considering how often the two have seen each other on opposite sidelines and how often Saban has gotten the better of Muschamp in those meetings.
[h/t Saturday Down South]
