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New president visits team; Ingram back to defense
Pastides caps busy first day on the job by speaking to the team before practice
CommentsAmong the couple of thousand or so fans at USC’s first football practice was Harris Pastides, wrapping up his first day on the job as the school’s president.
“It’s amazing,” Pastides said. “I mean I look around and say, these people have a lot of other things they could do tonight, because Columbia’s got a huge amount of culture and recreation.”
Pastides said he gave about a dozen speeches on Friday, including to the governor, mayor and faculty. But he was nervous before speaking to the football team, unsure what to say. He said he ended up “pulling out what I could.”
“They listened; they didn’t get up and walk away,” Pastides said. “They were most respectful, so I couldn’t be more excited about the countdown to Aug. 28.”
No Duke vote. For the first time since he left the school, Steve Spurrier left Duke off his ballot for the preseason coaches poll.
Spurrier always had given his former school a token vote to show his appreciation, despite the Blue Devils’ struggles. But Spurrier said Grant Teaff, the head of the American Football Coaches Association, personally requested that Spurrier stop, after USA Today complained.
“He just said ‘I’d appreciate if you didn’t vote for Duke, and keep the integrity of the poll alive,’” Spurrier said. “Somebody else asked me that; they’d always thought it was a nice gesture. But Grant asked me not to do it, so I complied with his wishes.”
Ingram back to defense. Melvin Ingram’s stay at fullback was a short one. The sophomore, who played in all 12 games last year at linebacker, shifted to the defensive line. Spurrier wasn’t sure whether Ingram would end up at tackle or end.
“We just felt like Melvin’s grown into a D-lineman,” Spurrier said. “It’s hard for him to get much under 280 (pounds), so we thought that might be a good spot.”
Sophomore Clark Gaston, caught in a numbers game at tight end, has also moved to the defensive line.
Extra points. The Gamecocks went through a walk-through on Friday morning. Spurrier wasn’t sure if it counted toward the overall practice limit.
“I just know you can come out here without a football and jump around and get in formations, and motions and all that kind of stuff, which is pretty good stuff,” he said. “Nobody gets hurt, and nobody gets hit.” ...
Offensive lineman Heath Batchelor and defensive tackle Ladi Ajiboye missed practice with what Spurrier called “some academic woes.” Both are expected back today. ... Today’s practice will be open, and Sunday’s probably will be, too. Spurrier said they would let the fans and media into every practice until “we start doing something sneaky that we need to close up.”
Reach Emerson at (803) 771-8676.
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