I think if the Gators need to get into a bowl game otherwise Coach Boom may not last as long as Zook. At least Zook went to Bowl Games.
You really think Foley would agree to fire him after just 1 season, Lf? I don't believe there's any WAY he would, no matter what kind of pressure came from absurdly impatient boosters--and CERTAINLY not just 'cause the last of the fans to jump ON the bandwagon are (as usual in such cases) the first to jump off. I think he gets 3 years at the MINIMUM--and that few only IF we're still just bouncing around the mediocre-mark; even Zook got that, and he never even LOOKED like he knew what he was doing. As we all here generally agree on now, the problems-at-hand have turned out to be deeper and more serious than even WE thought they were, and that has probably set the timetable back at LEAST a year--Coach Boom & Co.'s too, I'm sure. It would seem to suggest that instead of "reloading this year and beginning our return to the elite next", what is far more realistic is that we will be reBUILDING next season, and "returning to contention" the season after that, when we'd hopefully be ready to at least challenge the elite.
Don't forget, Muschamp's no babe-in-the-woods. As a "Head Coach-in-waiting" at one of the nation's leading programs AND an SEC-guy before that, he of ALL people understands the forces and pressures involved, and all the value general and specific in getting to a bowl game. He ALSO knows and understands the high standards held so dear here in Gator nation, for they are HIS standards too: There's the SEC- Championship and the BCS-Championship, and then there is everything else. He's here for the first two; failing that, while there is a certain "pecking order" in relative status to the rest of 'em, BCS-games, New Year's Day games, and so on, the main thing, after realizing you can't make it into that "elite mix", is to at LEAST make it into a New Year's Day bowl. You thereby gain most of the advantages of "all-the-rest" besides the Championship, except the actual monetary payoff--which is far from a significant factor (OR important portion of UF Athletic Dept. revenue) in ANY event. Trust me, he wants to get this team there as much as anyone, more than most. It is essential to his immediate AND long-term plans and considerations.