Paying Houston Nutt millions of dollars for not coaching was tough to stomach, especially considering the shape the Ole Miss football program was in after Nutt was terminated. But imagine a scenario where Nutt was hired as a coordinator by Alabama or Auburn (admittedly this is a difficult hypothetical to visualize because, well, Nutt) and he then recruited away the prospects Hugh Freeze wanted the most WHILE Ole Miss was still paying Nutt the millions of dollars he was getting paid not to coach.
Such would have been a new level of maddening.
Well, that's exactly what is happening at Florida.
Because Will Muschamp was fired he is getting paid the remainder of his contract ($6.3 million) while collecting a hefty defensive coordinator's salary from Auburn ($1.6 million) AND recruiting against the very school - FLORIDA - that's paying him not to coach.
Muschamp played a pivotal role in signing five-star defensive end Byron Cowart, widely regarded as the nation's top recruit, and fellow four-star linebacker Jeffery Holland. Both Sunshine State recruits were among Florida's top targets. Muschamp also helped Auburn flip offensive tackle Mike Horton and land receiver Ryan Davis of St. Petersburg and Javarius Davis of nearby Jacksonville.
Muschamp is getting rich and his revenge at the SAME time!
Meanwhile, Florida fans are peeved, and athletic director Jeremy Foley is on defense.
"I get the angst that that causes," Foley said Monday. "But at the end of the day, we terminated Will. It's not like he moved on on his own. We terminated his contract. We said we needed to go in a different direction. He's free to work. He's free to go get a job. He's free to do his job."
"We're all fine," Foley said. "It's good conversation. It's angst. But, you know, we terminated Will's contract. He's free to go make a living like anybody else."