Why did Jordan Burch pick South Carolina? National analysts react
South Carolina football and coach Will Muschamp scored a major recruiting coup Wednesday, getting the commitment of the No. 5 player in the class of 2020, defensive lineman Jordan Burch.
Burch, a premier prospect from Hammond School in Columbia, spurned offers from Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and LSU to pledge with the Gamecocks, and his decision gives Muschamp, coming off a disappointing 4-8 season in which questions about his job security started to become persistent, some crucial momentum, as well as a much needed bolt of excitement for the fan base.
Speaking on ESPNU’s recruiting show, ESPN national recruiting director Tom Luginbill and former coach Jim Mora both weighed in on Burch’s decision and its impact for USC. Here’s what they said:
Tom Luginbill on the importance of South Carolina’s new Long Family Operations Building: “I really believe this. I believe the fact that South Carolina in the completion of their football operations complex, which was about 10 years behind, this past spring, and what that did for them in recruiting momentum, regardless of what took place on the field, being able to compete when a kid comes to your program, comes on campus, comes in your building with the top level programs across the country and within your conference, you got Clemson across the state, that’s really, really important. And now South Carolina finally has that. I think that’s played a big role for them in recruiting, because it’s not just Jordan Burch, this is a really strong class top to bottom.”
ESPNU host Matt Schick: I remember covering the South Carolina spring game and walking through that facility, and just giving the coaches now, and obviously getting to be there for at least another year, couple years, typically three or four more years, to be able to recruit to that, giving them a chance — look, we built this thing, now let’s recruit to it, and maybe (Burch) is an example of, look, if you’ve got the facilities, give us a chance to use these to our advantage.
Jim Mora on facilities: “You need to show the parents, and you need to show the student-athlete that you’re going to do everything possible to help them attain their goals, to reach their objectives in life, and that’s facilities, that’s support; academic support, medical support, you name it. And the facility is just the place where they’re gonna spend most of their day, most of their time on campus, and to me it’s a great indicator of the commitment that the school is making.
Luginbill on the impact of Burch on the field, especially compared to Jadeveon Clowney: “Well, they already had a big impact with Javon Kinlaw, who was a monster along the defensive front. And I think when a player of this stature decides to stay at home, it sends a message to other players at the position of similar stature that, ‘Hey, this is OK, I made this choice, and I’m excited about it.’ And then all of a sudden, if you start seeing an improvement on the field as a result of better players coming into your program, now all of a sudden that starts to snowball and really starts to help you.
“You know, Jadaveon Clowney was ... it’s interesting, because the young man made a comment in there. He goes, when you asked what are you going to get, ‘You’re going to get a hard worker that doesn’t take plays off.’ I think that was always one of the chief complaints of Jadeveon Clowney at times was, as dominant as he was, he would disappear. And that’s something very, very important. So if you’re asking me to compare the two, if this kid doesn’t take plays off, he’s already got a leg up and he’s ready to roll.”
Steve Wiltfong, director of recruiting at 247 Sports, called Burch a potential first-round NFL draft pick in the future.
“He is a guy who is a multiple and could have played all 22 positions at Hammond,” Wiltfong said. “He is a top-10 guy. And those guys, they have the whole bag. They have the flexibility, body control, power and stout at the point of attack. You hope he blossoms to the first-round pick we think he was. We think he is that good.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 3:33 PM.
