KNOXVILLE — Robert Muschamp enters his second season as a defensive graduate assistant at Tennessee.
Muschamp came to Tennessee after playing at Auburn from 2015-18. He played linebacker and tight end at Darlington High School in Rome, Georgia, while spending time at fullback, tight end and on special teams with the Tigers.
Muschamp comes from a football family.
He is the nephew of head coaches Will Muschamp at South Carolina and Mike Muschamp of the Lovett School in Atlanta, Georgia.
Tennessee’s second-year defensive graduate assistant — known as Rocky Top Bob — played for Tommy Atha at Darlington.
Atha discussed Muschamp coming from a football family and having the sport in his blood.
“Football is just in his blood,” Atha told Vols Wire of Tennessee’s Muschamp. “The football pedigree in that family, and it’s just not Will. His uncle Mike played for Steve Spurrier at Duke. His Dad, Pat, played at Army. Robert’s father and my father played high school football together at the old Rome High School. His grandfather, Larry, played at North Carolina. Football is just in Robert’s blood.”
Atha views Muschamp as being “a coach on the rise” in college football.
“I don’t think there is any question that the sky is the limit as far as Robert’s concerned in the college coaching world,” Atha said. “He certainly has the work ethic for it. He’s got the mind and the mental toughness.
“Obviously, there are some connections that always help at that level. When you put all that together, I think Robert’s got tremendous potential to rise in the coaching world.”
Muschamp’s experience playing on both sides of the ball at Darlington, and going from a walk-on to a scholarship player at Auburn, helps him in being able to teach and develop players throughout an entire roster.
“He is so smart with physical and mental toughness, he is a leader and has a great demeanor about him,” Atha said of Muschamp. “He played through a broken hand and a torn labrum when he was in high school. We were able to do a lot of things because he was a versatile kid. He was big enough that he could have been a lineman, but he was athletic enough to be a skill player. He was a tight end for us and he really helped us transform what we do offensively because we went from a three-back wing-option and morphed into more of a pro-style and used him as an H-back and a flex tight end. He was a big part of us morphing into a more pro and spread style offense that we are in now.
“We are a single-A program, and when you are one of the better athletes, you are going to play in all three phases. He was a SAM linebacker and set the edge and blew things up. Robert certainly did not shy away from contact as a super, physical kid. He was one of our better players on both sides of the ball. When you are a walk-on at a Power Five school, and stay the course, and eventually find your way on special teams after four years, that says a lot about you.”
Patrick Collier coached middle linebackers at Darlington during Muschamp’s senior season. Collier can also see Muschamp’s potential in the profession, a career that could see him next as a position coach.
“Robert is the type of person that will stop at nothing to achieve a goal he has set for himself,” Collier told Vols Wire. “So, if his goal is to one day be a position coach in the SEC, I believe that he will be able to achieve it.”
Tennessee will kick off the 2020 season against Muschamp’s South Carolina Gamecocks on Sept. 26. Kick off is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by SEC Network.