W
Wes Mitchell
Guest
"I've got more heart and pride for this great University than a lot of other people can. I want the University of South Carolina to hire the best football coach, and I am on an audition, so to speak, and our football program is. They need a strong man that has the support of the university, the support of the fan base, and first and foremost, the support of their team. At this point in time, I think I'm standing in a pretty good spot to do that. We've got an uphill battle moving forward, we have a tough schedule, but with the focus, energy and pride we have in our football team at this point, it's going to be a very difficult situation for those guys to turn me away. We're going to do everything in our power. - South Carolina interim coach Shawn Elliott to WACH Fox.
Those words, uttered by Shawn Elliott in an interview with WACH Fox's Corey Miller, sum up nicely the path ahead for the Gamecocks' interim coach as he essentially auditions to be South Carolina's permanent head coach. When you look at South Carolina's upcoming schedule, it certainly won't be easy for Elliott to produce enough wins for a Dabo Swinney-esque run towards removing the interim tag from his title.
When Swinney got the job, Clemson's schedule was much easier and there was a sense that the Tigers' AD at the time. Terry Don Phillips, was looking for an excuse to make Dabo his guy. But Elliott seems to enjoy the underdog role a bit, and he can't be ruled out either. There are some things, a checklist of sorts, that Elliott can accomplish to make the decision -- whether to go with Elliott or one of the "big three" of Tom Herman, Justin Fuente and Kirby Smart -- very difficult on athletic director Ray Tanner.
Elliott, in that quote, says that "first and foremost" he has to have the support of his team, and I agree with that assessment. Former Head Ball Coach Steve Spurrier said that the team needed to hear a new voice, and Elliott has provided a different, more energetic voice to the Carolina locker room, and they've responded to the former offensive line coach and running game coordinator. Spurrier had his way of doing things, and the man has won more than every over coach in SEC history save Bear Bryant, so his way has certainly worked. But sometimes after a coach is in one place for so long, there just simply needs to be a change in leadership. Elliott has a completely different style than Spurrier and a team that seemed lost in the prior week, seemed to find a bit of its confidence in the 19-10 win over Vanderbilt.
Elliott has allowed music at practice, the Gamecocks to wear alternate uniforms and welcomed any former players back to participate in the Gamecock Walk. Which brings us to the second line on the checklist: building support from as many former players and people around the program as possible. Elliott already likely had the support of any of the players whose time in the program has overlapped with his. But if you talk to former players of any program, the one sentiment you hear from most, is that they just want to feel welcomed back and that they're still a part of their program. Elliott's gesture wasn't hard to implement but it was big to those players and smart on his part.
The extra boost that Carolina received from his win over Vandy has carried over into a much-needed bye week with a trip to College Station to take on a Texas A&M team whose season seems at a crossroads. To make his case to be the Gamecocks next head coach, Elliott is going to need the support of the board of trustees and the fan base. Winning may not cure all, but it sure does cure most, and Elliott is going to need some wins, some progress, to point to in making his case.
The Vanderbilt game was a must-win, so he's taken care of that. You'd have to chalk up a victory over The Citadel as well in this scenario. That leaves up with the other four contests. The way I see it, Elliott needs to find one win out of the Texas A&M, Tennessee and Florida games. Easy? Absolutely not. Doable? Yes. Carolina will be an underdog in all three of those games individually. But winning one of the three isn't out of the realm of possibility.
Accomplishing that would put Elliott and the Gamecocks in the biggest game of his young head coaching career. The Gamecocks would be major underdogs, but there's nothing that would get the fans more emotionally invested in the idea of Elliott being the permanent head coach than for Carolina to get bowl eligible by knocking an undefeated Clemson team out of the College Football Playoff.
Again, it's going to be an uphill climb for this team, but that's why you play the games and I'm not sure that there's a hard number of wins that gets or disqualifies Elliott from the job. Elliott says he's got a plan and it's the strength of that plan -- pared with all of the factors above -- that will determine if he's the best man for the job.
How would Elliott upgrade the Gamecocks' recruiting efforts, both in-state and out? What changes would Elliott make to the coaching staff and what type of offensive and defensive systems would he want to run? How does he manage situations that come up in the following weeks, both in-game and off-the-field? And what, finally, is Elliott's vision for where the South Carolina football program can be in two years, five years, ten years?
Those are some of the questions that I would imagine Elliott will have to answer to Tanner's satisfaction. While ultimately, I don't believe there's going to be any type of formula that Tanner uses to determine who best to next run the Gamecocks program. Tanner, for sure, played hunches -- well-informed hunches mind you -- throughout his championship career as a baseball coach, and is an excellent judge of people and situations. If Elliott can accomplish all of the goals listed above, Tanner may have his own question to answer: Can he turn Elliott down?
"I want to be the head coach at the University of South Carolina," Elliott continued, "and currently I am the head coach at the University of South Carolina. Until that point they tell me I'm not, we're going to move forward and make strides to be the best program we can in 2016, '17 and '18. I've got a plan, got a focus and an energy that I don't think can be matched."
Those words, uttered by Shawn Elliott in an interview with WACH Fox's Corey Miller, sum up nicely the path ahead for the Gamecocks' interim coach as he essentially auditions to be South Carolina's permanent head coach. When you look at South Carolina's upcoming schedule, it certainly won't be easy for Elliott to produce enough wins for a Dabo Swinney-esque run towards removing the interim tag from his title.
When Swinney got the job, Clemson's schedule was much easier and there was a sense that the Tigers' AD at the time. Terry Don Phillips, was looking for an excuse to make Dabo his guy. But Elliott seems to enjoy the underdog role a bit, and he can't be ruled out either. There are some things, a checklist of sorts, that Elliott can accomplish to make the decision -- whether to go with Elliott or one of the "big three" of Tom Herman, Justin Fuente and Kirby Smart -- very difficult on athletic director Ray Tanner.
Elliott, in that quote, says that "first and foremost" he has to have the support of his team, and I agree with that assessment. Former Head Ball Coach Steve Spurrier said that the team needed to hear a new voice, and Elliott has provided a different, more energetic voice to the Carolina locker room, and they've responded to the former offensive line coach and running game coordinator. Spurrier had his way of doing things, and the man has won more than every over coach in SEC history save Bear Bryant, so his way has certainly worked. But sometimes after a coach is in one place for so long, there just simply needs to be a change in leadership. Elliott has a completely different style than Spurrier and a team that seemed lost in the prior week, seemed to find a bit of its confidence in the 19-10 win over Vanderbilt.
Elliott has allowed music at practice, the Gamecocks to wear alternate uniforms and welcomed any former players back to participate in the Gamecock Walk. Which brings us to the second line on the checklist: building support from as many former players and people around the program as possible. Elliott already likely had the support of any of the players whose time in the program has overlapped with his. But if you talk to former players of any program, the one sentiment you hear from most, is that they just want to feel welcomed back and that they're still a part of their program. Elliott's gesture wasn't hard to implement but it was big to those players and smart on his part.
The extra boost that Carolina received from his win over Vandy has carried over into a much-needed bye week with a trip to College Station to take on a Texas A&M team whose season seems at a crossroads. To make his case to be the Gamecocks next head coach, Elliott is going to need the support of the board of trustees and the fan base. Winning may not cure all, but it sure does cure most, and Elliott is going to need some wins, some progress, to point to in making his case.
The Vanderbilt game was a must-win, so he's taken care of that. You'd have to chalk up a victory over The Citadel as well in this scenario. That leaves up with the other four contests. The way I see it, Elliott needs to find one win out of the Texas A&M, Tennessee and Florida games. Easy? Absolutely not. Doable? Yes. Carolina will be an underdog in all three of those games individually. But winning one of the three isn't out of the realm of possibility.
Accomplishing that would put Elliott and the Gamecocks in the biggest game of his young head coaching career. The Gamecocks would be major underdogs, but there's nothing that would get the fans more emotionally invested in the idea of Elliott being the permanent head coach than for Carolina to get bowl eligible by knocking an undefeated Clemson team out of the College Football Playoff.
Again, it's going to be an uphill climb for this team, but that's why you play the games and I'm not sure that there's a hard number of wins that gets or disqualifies Elliott from the job. Elliott says he's got a plan and it's the strength of that plan -- pared with all of the factors above -- that will determine if he's the best man for the job.
How would Elliott upgrade the Gamecocks' recruiting efforts, both in-state and out? What changes would Elliott make to the coaching staff and what type of offensive and defensive systems would he want to run? How does he manage situations that come up in the following weeks, both in-game and off-the-field? And what, finally, is Elliott's vision for where the South Carolina football program can be in two years, five years, ten years?
Those are some of the questions that I would imagine Elliott will have to answer to Tanner's satisfaction. While ultimately, I don't believe there's going to be any type of formula that Tanner uses to determine who best to next run the Gamecocks program. Tanner, for sure, played hunches -- well-informed hunches mind you -- throughout his championship career as a baseball coach, and is an excellent judge of people and situations. If Elliott can accomplish all of the goals listed above, Tanner may have his own question to answer: Can he turn Elliott down?
"I want to be the head coach at the University of South Carolina," Elliott continued, "and currently I am the head coach at the University of South Carolina. Until that point they tell me I'm not, we're going to move forward and make strides to be the best program we can in 2016, '17 and '18. I've got a plan, got a focus and an energy that I don't think can be matched."
