Former Gators: Muschamp’s recruiting will rebuild South Carolina

Will Muschamp’s former players at the NFL Combine believe their ex-coach will soon have success at South Carolina, and they all have the same reason why.

“I know he’s going to recruit some great players,” former Florida defensive tackle Caleb Brantley said. “He knows how to recruit. He’s a great coach. I think he’s going to turn that program around. They’re going to be competitive in the SEC East.”

“They are going to get their recruits in, and they’re going to get the talent they need to turn that program around and they’re going to win,” linebacker Jarrad Davis said.

“Coach Muschamp is a coach who can really recruit well,” linebacker Alex Anzalone said. “You can see in the class he has put together this past year that he’s done well. He will build some momentum, especially when he starts winning some games, and he’ll be in contention in the (SEC) East just because of the way he coaches and how he approaches everything.”

The fruits of Muschamp’s recruiting efforts at Florida are on full display at the NFL Combine, where six former Gator defensive players were invited to work out for scouts.

Now Muschamp’s challenge is to replicate that recruiting success at South Carolina, where he went 6-7 in his first season as coach.

“They have a lot of young guys. They can have a pretty good year,” former Florida offensive lineman David Sharpe said.

Davis also praised current South Carolina assistant coaches Jeff Dillman, Coleman Hutzler, Mike Peterson and Travaris Robinson – all of whom were at Florida with Muschamp.

“I expect Muschamp to take off man. Muschamp is a great coach, and he has a great staff around him. It’s a great group of guys,” Davis said. “When they were at Florida, they helped us out in every phase of the game. I don’t see them falling off at all.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2017 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Former Gators: Muschamp’s recruiting will rebuild South Carolina."