By Colin Killian, Public Communications Manager
With Coach Will Muschamp bringing his South Carolina Gamecocks to town for Saturday’s game against the Aggies, we thought it was time to look back on one of the most popular YouTube videos the City of College Station has ever produced.
Back in 2012, the Aggies made their Southeastern Conference debut against the Florida Gators at Kyle Field. Their coach was none other than Muschamp, who had been the defensive coordinator for the Texas Longhorns when they came to College Station in 2009.
That summer, Muschamp was speaking at a booster club meeting in Florida. “You ever been to College Station?” Muschamp asked. “It’ll be the only time you go.”
Those were fightin’ words to then-Mayor Nancy Berry.
She paid a quick visit to the city’s Public Communications Office and asked us to come up with a video response to poke a little fun at the coach – in a lighthearted way, of course.
On the day of the video shoot, the mayor kept getting tongue-tied on the first line. Instead of “Howdy, Coach Muschamp,” all she could manage was “Howdy, Muschamp!” After several futile attempts, we surrendered. Her version seemed to add a little more pop, anyway:
The video ended up going viral – at least by our estimation – with more than 53,000 views. We even had 130 views in Thailand. The story itself got picked up by media outlets across the country.
Mayor Berry later sent Coach Muschamp a generous gift basket, and he responded with a nice thank-you letter.
A group of Gator fans was so impressed they wrote a letter to Mayor Berry asking if they could go to the game with her. She didn’t have enough tickets, but she invited them to visit her at city hall the day before. They turned out to be a great group of guys, despite all the garish orange sportswear.
Sadly, the Gators pulled out a 20-17 victory, overcoming the electrifying heroics of a young freshman named Johnny Manziel. After leaving Florida after the 2014 season, Muschamp returned to College Station in 2015 as the defensive coordinator at Auburn, and the Tigers left town with a 26-10 victory.
The Longhorns also won that 2009 game with Muschamp on the sidelines, so it seems Coach Muschamp has enjoyed College Station more than he admits.
Hey, Muschamp. Don’t expect any more gift baskets.
About the Blogger
Colin Killian (@ColinKillian) has been with the City of College Station since 2010 after 23 years as associate media relations director for the Texas A&M Athletics Department. Killian has also been a reporter and editor for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and Lewisville News. A native of Hobbs, N.M., he graduated from Texas Tech with a bachelor’s degree in journalism/political science.
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