Florida's Will Muschamp is off on the "rubber chicken" circuit at the moment, hitting various booster and alumni dinners in hopes of rallying a cautious Gator fan base that saw a national title contending program suddenly deflate after the exit of Urban Meyer. So it's best to divert attention when addressing a variety of serious concerns - the botched hiring of Charlie Weis, the numerous players suspended or run off in the regime change, losing to Georgia - by garnering headlines somewhere else.
In the course of a single speech, Muschamp insulted and complimented College Station and Texas A&M's fans, and took a dig at their former conference, all while insuring Aggie fans that they'll need no reminder of his days as "coach in waiting" over in Austin when A&M plays its first conference game against Florida on September 8.
First, the insult:
"You ever been to College Station?" he asked a gathering of Gators fans, according to the Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger. "It'll be the only time you go."
AW, HELL: FODOR'S SMACK.
Then, the compliment:
"It will be a very SEC-like atmosphere," Muschamp said of what Florida can expect when it visits Kyle Field, in A&M's first SEC competition in any sport.
Translated: "We'll look up and see any number of delusional, unemployed old white men willing to poison a living thing for the purposes of one-upsmanship on talk radio."
And finally, Coach Boom fired off a backhanded compliment to the Ags, and possibly a parting shot at his former employer:
"It's one of the few places in the Big 12 I would say that about."
Hint: While possibly applicable, he's probably not talking about Iowa State.
For more on Texas A&M, Florida and the rest of the zany Southeastern Conference, check out Team Speed Killsand SB Nation's college football page.