W
Wes Mitchell
Guest
We often talk in terms of USC's staff needing to flip the roster. At which positions could one say that has already been accomplished?
CHRIS CLARK: We've remarked in the past that, given the reputation heading in, it's been very interesting to watch Will Muschamp and his staff quickly assemble pieces on the offensive side of the ball to turn things around in Columbia. The fact that it's happened is a testament to a coach who recognized what he needed to improve on from his last stint as a head man, and one that had a clear plan in place for staffing and what he wanted on that side of the ball.
Running back was flipped in short order; making a good evaluation on North Carolina mid-three star Rico Dowdle and adding Ty'Son Williams through the transfer wire. AJ Turner was already on the roster and did a nice job for the Gamecocks as a redshirt freshman. Bobby Bentley has continued doing good work here. In the 2018 class, South Carolina has two intriguing prospects from Florida on the commitment list in big back Deshaun Fenwick and speedster Lavonte Valentine. It's also worth noting that USC has two walk-ons at running back that were former Division I signees in Caleb Kinlaw (Wisconsin) and Stephen Davis Jr. (Auburn).
Bryan McClendon has also flipped the receiver position. He inherited standout Deebo Samuel, but several youngsters on the roster look to have bright futures. Bryan Edwards has the look of a big-time player and enjoyed a strong freshman campaign. Chavis Dawkins and Dreak Davis showed flashes as true freshmen. The trio signed in 2017 in Shi Smith, OrTre Smith, and Chad Terrell are all former four-star signees with positive returns thus far.
USC had a couple of good ones at tight end with Hayden Hurst and KC Crosby on the roster upon Muschamp's arrival, but have developed them well and added high upside guys like Evan Hinson and Kiel Pollard as well as local product Will Register to the roster.
Let's not forget adding Jake Bentley, although USC will need to acquire more talent and depth at the quarterback position.
There have been some positive additions to the lines of scrimmage, and USC likes some of those guys for the future. Yet there's still time needed and work to be done to consider the defensive line and offensive line flipped. Depending on how things shake out in 2017 and 2018, we could look back sooner than later and say that things have turned around. More classes are needed to stack at defensive back and linebacker,although USC has added some nice pieces there too. USC will also have to continue to get the specialists up to the standard of guys like recent standouts Elliott Fry, Sean Kelly, and Drew Williams.
WES MITCHELL: Chris pretty much nailed it on this one for me, so I won't detail those spots again. The running back position was flipped in short order while the wide receiver position has gone from a major question mark to a strength with depth. Tight end is probably the position that was in the best shape when the staff arrived and they've only added to that with the additions of Kiel Pollard and Evan Hinson, who have a bright future in the program.
With that said, I'll look at a position that is in the process of being flipped. Offensive line coach Eric Wolford is probably going to need a couple of full classes to get the position where he wants it from a talent perspective, but he's already making big steps towards upgrading the athleticism at the position, and athleticism is what they've missed the most the last couple of years, in my opinion.
We've made the point before that Carolina's current class sort of resembles Wolford's lone class from his previous stop in Columbia in that it's likely going to feature a nice mix of highly rated guys and high-upside, developmental prospects, which is pretty much what you have to do in order to stockpile talent at the position. Really, it's about getting as many prospects on campus who "have a chance" and then developing them. Not all of them will pan out, for various reasons, but if you get enough of them, you'll find yourself with solid line play.
More and more contacts I speak with rave about the ability of Hank Manos and his wrestling background and mindset should be a perfect fit for Wolford's style of coaching. Maxwell Iyama is a highly rated, high-upside prospect who could see time on the edge at tackle or inside as an athletic guard prospect. In-state tackle Wyatt Campbell is another high-upside prospect with the right mindset for the position.
In some ways, I compare Gamecocks' target Dylan Wonnum to the addition of Brandon Shell, who Wolford put Carolina in good shape with for the next class before he took the Youngstown State job. Shell is one of the highest rated offensive line prospects the Gamecocks have ever landed and helped anchor the line for almost his entire top in Columbia. Wonnum is highly rated as well and would likely be the Gamecocks future starting left tackle if he joins the program.
There's still a ways to go before you can effectively call the offensive line position as "flipped," but you can already see the plan and pieces going in place for Wolford to fix the Gamecocks' line play.
If you had to name the one best thing that Will Muschamp has brought to USC's football program, what would it be?
CHRIS CLARK: I would not go the route of pointing towards a specific action like landing a single prospect, bringing in a particular recruiting class, or installing a certain scheme. For me, it would simply be this: Muschamp has ensured that football is being fully invested in at the University of South Carolina.
Let's not get it wrong: plenty of folks from Ray Tanner to the school's Board of Trustees to other administrators deserve credit for helping drive improvements in terms of doling out dollars or bringing new ideas to the table. Some around the university's athletics department watched for a while as USC's competitors passed them in recruiting strategy, program branding, coaching, and other moves. Now, If USC does not get its program back on track and start winning football games, potentially on a regular basis, it will not be because administrators or coaches are asleep at the wheel. Nobody will be able to point to dollars spent, lack of facilities, or dearth of effort.
While some of the things were being addressed before December 2015, Muschamp's arrival signaled an end to a lot of the problems as his effort and approach have helped everything else flow from the top down. Those folks inside the AD, as well as Muschamp, are burning to win and the match makes sense with a man who is well-suited to tackle the issues. Athletic directors and administrators can ensure buildings are built and money goes where its needed, but they cannot be counted on to have a vision and execute it. That's why you hire a football coach.
Muschamp has caught USC up in areas where it was deficient and has not been afraid to ask for support on certain issues. He made it known that USC badly needed a new football operations center, for example. On his own, he tremendously enhanced USC's recruiting office and support staff to where it now measured up -or bests - the Gamecocks' competitors. The camp experience and evaluation process in recruiting is night and day to where it was previously. A lot of credit for recognizing improvement was needed could go to many different areas, but a lot of it can be traced back - directly or indirectly - to the person USC hired to lead the program.
WES MITCHELL: On top of the areas that Chris mentioned, I would say the most impressive thing about Muschamp's tenure so far is how he's completely revamped the Gamecocks' recruiting operation. When Muschamp first arrived and said that he would be his own recruiting coordinator, I thought it was his way of saying that he would be very involved in all aspects of recruiting. But as we've learned, it actually means that he's literally his own recruiting coordinator. There's not a prospect with a Carolina offer that wasn't approved by Muschamp himself. That produces a type of accountability in recruiting from the top down that I haven't seen before.
With that, Muschamp has changed the way South Carolina handles its camps, with NFL Combine style testing and record-keeping. He's completely upgraded the recruiting office by hiring new people and creating new positions. He's brought a personal touch to official visits by inviting prospects to complete their visits at his home. And he's added a thorough, systematic process to evaluating prospects. Put simply, there's a recruiting plan in place the likes of which we haven't seen before in Columbia, and that should pay off for this program in time.
CHRIS CLARK: We've remarked in the past that, given the reputation heading in, it's been very interesting to watch Will Muschamp and his staff quickly assemble pieces on the offensive side of the ball to turn things around in Columbia. The fact that it's happened is a testament to a coach who recognized what he needed to improve on from his last stint as a head man, and one that had a clear plan in place for staffing and what he wanted on that side of the ball.
Running back was flipped in short order; making a good evaluation on North Carolina mid-three star Rico Dowdle and adding Ty'Son Williams through the transfer wire. AJ Turner was already on the roster and did a nice job for the Gamecocks as a redshirt freshman. Bobby Bentley has continued doing good work here. In the 2018 class, South Carolina has two intriguing prospects from Florida on the commitment list in big back Deshaun Fenwick and speedster Lavonte Valentine. It's also worth noting that USC has two walk-ons at running back that were former Division I signees in Caleb Kinlaw (Wisconsin) and Stephen Davis Jr. (Auburn).
Bryan McClendon has also flipped the receiver position. He inherited standout Deebo Samuel, but several youngsters on the roster look to have bright futures. Bryan Edwards has the look of a big-time player and enjoyed a strong freshman campaign. Chavis Dawkins and Dreak Davis showed flashes as true freshmen. The trio signed in 2017 in Shi Smith, OrTre Smith, and Chad Terrell are all former four-star signees with positive returns thus far.
USC had a couple of good ones at tight end with Hayden Hurst and KC Crosby on the roster upon Muschamp's arrival, but have developed them well and added high upside guys like Evan Hinson and Kiel Pollard as well as local product Will Register to the roster.
Let's not forget adding Jake Bentley, although USC will need to acquire more talent and depth at the quarterback position.
There have been some positive additions to the lines of scrimmage, and USC likes some of those guys for the future. Yet there's still time needed and work to be done to consider the defensive line and offensive line flipped. Depending on how things shake out in 2017 and 2018, we could look back sooner than later and say that things have turned around. More classes are needed to stack at defensive back and linebacker,although USC has added some nice pieces there too. USC will also have to continue to get the specialists up to the standard of guys like recent standouts Elliott Fry, Sean Kelly, and Drew Williams.
WES MITCHELL: Chris pretty much nailed it on this one for me, so I won't detail those spots again. The running back position was flipped in short order while the wide receiver position has gone from a major question mark to a strength with depth. Tight end is probably the position that was in the best shape when the staff arrived and they've only added to that with the additions of Kiel Pollard and Evan Hinson, who have a bright future in the program.
With that said, I'll look at a position that is in the process of being flipped. Offensive line coach Eric Wolford is probably going to need a couple of full classes to get the position where he wants it from a talent perspective, but he's already making big steps towards upgrading the athleticism at the position, and athleticism is what they've missed the most the last couple of years, in my opinion.
We've made the point before that Carolina's current class sort of resembles Wolford's lone class from his previous stop in Columbia in that it's likely going to feature a nice mix of highly rated guys and high-upside, developmental prospects, which is pretty much what you have to do in order to stockpile talent at the position. Really, it's about getting as many prospects on campus who "have a chance" and then developing them. Not all of them will pan out, for various reasons, but if you get enough of them, you'll find yourself with solid line play.
More and more contacts I speak with rave about the ability of Hank Manos and his wrestling background and mindset should be a perfect fit for Wolford's style of coaching. Maxwell Iyama is a highly rated, high-upside prospect who could see time on the edge at tackle or inside as an athletic guard prospect. In-state tackle Wyatt Campbell is another high-upside prospect with the right mindset for the position.
In some ways, I compare Gamecocks' target Dylan Wonnum to the addition of Brandon Shell, who Wolford put Carolina in good shape with for the next class before he took the Youngstown State job. Shell is one of the highest rated offensive line prospects the Gamecocks have ever landed and helped anchor the line for almost his entire top in Columbia. Wonnum is highly rated as well and would likely be the Gamecocks future starting left tackle if he joins the program.
There's still a ways to go before you can effectively call the offensive line position as "flipped," but you can already see the plan and pieces going in place for Wolford to fix the Gamecocks' line play.
If you had to name the one best thing that Will Muschamp has brought to USC's football program, what would it be?
CHRIS CLARK: I would not go the route of pointing towards a specific action like landing a single prospect, bringing in a particular recruiting class, or installing a certain scheme. For me, it would simply be this: Muschamp has ensured that football is being fully invested in at the University of South Carolina.
Let's not get it wrong: plenty of folks from Ray Tanner to the school's Board of Trustees to other administrators deserve credit for helping drive improvements in terms of doling out dollars or bringing new ideas to the table. Some around the university's athletics department watched for a while as USC's competitors passed them in recruiting strategy, program branding, coaching, and other moves. Now, If USC does not get its program back on track and start winning football games, potentially on a regular basis, it will not be because administrators or coaches are asleep at the wheel. Nobody will be able to point to dollars spent, lack of facilities, or dearth of effort.
While some of the things were being addressed before December 2015, Muschamp's arrival signaled an end to a lot of the problems as his effort and approach have helped everything else flow from the top down. Those folks inside the AD, as well as Muschamp, are burning to win and the match makes sense with a man who is well-suited to tackle the issues. Athletic directors and administrators can ensure buildings are built and money goes where its needed, but they cannot be counted on to have a vision and execute it. That's why you hire a football coach.
Muschamp has caught USC up in areas where it was deficient and has not been afraid to ask for support on certain issues. He made it known that USC badly needed a new football operations center, for example. On his own, he tremendously enhanced USC's recruiting office and support staff to where it now measured up -or bests - the Gamecocks' competitors. The camp experience and evaluation process in recruiting is night and day to where it was previously. A lot of credit for recognizing improvement was needed could go to many different areas, but a lot of it can be traced back - directly or indirectly - to the person USC hired to lead the program.
WES MITCHELL: On top of the areas that Chris mentioned, I would say the most impressive thing about Muschamp's tenure so far is how he's completely revamped the Gamecocks' recruiting operation. When Muschamp first arrived and said that he would be his own recruiting coordinator, I thought it was his way of saying that he would be very involved in all aspects of recruiting. But as we've learned, it actually means that he's literally his own recruiting coordinator. There's not a prospect with a Carolina offer that wasn't approved by Muschamp himself. That produces a type of accountability in recruiting from the top down that I haven't seen before.
With that, Muschamp has changed the way South Carolina handles its camps, with NFL Combine style testing and record-keeping. He's completely upgraded the recruiting office by hiring new people and creating new positions. He's brought a personal touch to official visits by inviting prospects to complete their visits at his home. And he's added a thorough, systematic process to evaluating prospects. Put simply, there's a recruiting plan in place the likes of which we haven't seen before in Columbia, and that should pay off for this program in time.
