Muschamp plans to expand USC’s spiritual development program

South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp unveiled the school’s new promotional “Boom Bus” on Tuesday afternoon and took the opportunity to address several topics of recent interest with his football team.

The first thing on Muschamp’s mind was the team’s spiritual development program. His decision to not retain longtime team chaplain Adrian Despres recently raised discussion among the team’s fan base.

“I want to address some misinformation and confusion that is out there,” said Muschamp, who added the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an organization that has a history of addressing spiritual programs within college football programs, has “zero to do with any decisions I make.”

“We are expanding our spiritual development program,” Muschamp said. “We are going to continue to try to hire more people in those areas for our players. It’s all about the student-athletes with me. When you become a head coach and walk into a situation, you make decisions based on what you think is best for the student-athlete and best for the program moving forward.

“Those are the decisions I have made. Just because you’re not retained does not mean you’re not a good coach or you’re not a good support staff member. It just means that you’re not going to be with us moving forward.”

Muschamp also addressed his unsuccessful attempt to hire former Gamecocks star running back Marcus Lattimore, who was set to take an off-field position in Muschamp’s Beyond Football initiative until the NCAA ruled it would violate rules because of Lattimore’s simultaneous involvement with youth football players through his foundation.

“Marcus is going to stay with his organization, which I totally respect and applaud him for what he’s doing for young people in the state of South Carolina,” Muschamp said. “He’s a Gamecock. He’s always going to be a Gamecock. He’s going to always be involved in our program. Unfortunately, we can’t pay him because of the conflict with the NCAA rules. We totally understand the rules, and we are going to abide by the rules.”

Muschamp recently held exit interviews with all the team’s players and said none of them expressed to him a desire to transfer.

Muschamp will make his first stop on the Gamecock Club speaking tour Wednesday night at The Zone at Williams-Brice Stadium. The bus, which has “Boom Bus” written in large letters next to a photo of Muschamp on its side, is part of the Gamecock Club’s spring tour.

“To see how welcoming (the fans) have been to us, I want to be as welcoming to them and I want our staff to be that way and be as accessible as we can be to them. That’s very important to me,” Muschamp said.

The photo of the Muschamp on the side of the bus pictures him pointing.

“I’m trying to figure out what I’m pointing at,” the coach said, “probably Atlanta because that’s where we’re headed.”

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Muschamp plans to expand USC’s spiritual development program."