The challenging road South Carolina’s staff faces right now on the recruiting trail
South Carolina’s football program finds itself in a precarious spot, less than a month removed from the athletics director and school president having to give their head coach a vote of confidence.
The sense of unease around the future of the Gamecocks program raises the difficulty level in one specific arena: recruiting.
Last week, Will Muschamp and his staff were racing around the Southeast and the country, handing out some new offers and checking in with a range of current commitments. But this is a world in which opposing coaches might take advantage of South Carolina‘s questions in an attempt to pick up some talent.
“It’s difficult because you know negative recruiting exists in college football,” Rivals National recruiting director Mike Farrell said. “Every coach will deny that they do it, but every coach does it. So when a guy like Muschamp is getting the vote of confidence from his boss, everybody knows this is a crucial upcoming year for him coming off a bad season that’s going to be used against him on the recruiting trail.”
For the moment, USC‘s class is holding strong at 19 commitments for a projected 22 spots.They’re still in need of a high-end pass rusher, likely a linebacker and another playmaker.
Hometown five-star defensive end Jordan Burch is still in their sights, as is three-star Georgia pass catcher Jaheim Bell.
One complicating factor for USC in the short term is the lack of an offensive coordinator after Bryan McClendon was demoted and Dan Werner was pushed out. The Gamecocks appear to be in line to add Mike Bobo, formerly of Colorado State — but the uncertainty could create some issues as well.
“You’re gonna get a lot of questions, obviously, as we head into December and the contact period,” Farrell said. “When you go into living rooms of recruits or go to their high schools, they’re going to ask you that question. They’re gonna ask you specifically, what type of style are you gonna play? How do I fit into that? And you really don’t have the answers to those questions.”
USC’s board meets on Tuesday to deal with athletic contracts.
One thing that simultaneously helps and hurts is the early signing day that came into existence a few years back.
It’s sped everything about the process up, meaning more of this class is set and players who might look around have fewer places to go. A player like blue-chipper MarShawn Lloyd still might have options, but not everyone.
“You expect by September, or late August, to have 75 to 80% of your class done, maybe even more,” Farrell said. “And by the time December rolls around, there aren’t a lot of options for kids. So it is easier these days to keep a class together.”
The real issue might be the 2021 class. These days are for laying the groundwork for next year as much as anything else, building up relationships, setting things up to convert offers from last summer into commits and get more talent to come to campus in the spring.
It’s obviously more pressing for a team that loses a head coach, but even losing a coordinator can hurt. In the past, a team could afford less success in the weeks after the season because the dead period offered a reprieve and January offered a chance to catch up.
For USC, there will be projections of confidence and undercutting from opposing coaches. Getting a coordinator in place will help, but off a bad season with long-term concerns still floating around the overall coaching staff, the road ahead might be a rocky one.
“It’s very difficult when you’ve got coaching turnover, like at South Carolina or Texas,” Farrell said. “You’re trying to answer those questions, because, you know, you’re doing a lot of dancing.”
Recruiting calendar details
Early signing period: Dec. 18-20
Regular signing period: Begins Feb. 5
Contact periods: Through Dec. 14; then again Jan. 17 through Feb. 1: “A contact period is that period of time when it is permissible for authorized athletics department staff members to make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations.”
Quiet periods: Dec 15 and Feb. 2: “A quiet period is that period of time when it is permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts only on the member institution’s campus. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts or evaluations may be made during the quiet period.”
Dead period: Dec. 16 through Jan. 16: “A dead period is that period of time when it is not permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off the member institution’s campus or to permit official or unofficial visits by prospective student-athletes to the institution’s campus.”
South Carolina’s 2020 recruiting class
X-denotes four-star prospect. All others are three-star prospects, according to 247Sports’ Composite rating that factors in all recruiting rankings.
Offense
▪ X-Luke Doty, QB (Myrtle Beach HS, SC)
▪ X-MarShawn Lloyd, RB (DeMatha Catholic HS, MD)
▪ Rashad Amos, RB (Sandy Creek HS, GA)
▪ Da’Qon Stewart, WR, (North Mecklenburg HS, NC)
▪ X-Mike Wyman, WR, (Greensboro Dudley HS, NC)
▪ X-Rico Powers, WR, (Hapeville Charter HS, GA)
▪ Eric Shaw, TE/ATH, (Reeltown HS, AL)
▪ Jazston Turnetine, OL (Hutchinson Community College, KS)
▪ Tyshawn Wannamaker OL (Calhoun County HS, SC)
▪ Trai Jones, OL (Abbeville HS, SC)
▪ Vershon Lee, OL (Woodbridge, VA)
Defense
▪ X-Mohamed Kaba, LB (Clinton HS, NC)
▪ X-Alex Huntley, DL (Hammond HS, SC)
▪ Makius Scott, DL (Gainesville HS, GA)
▪ X-Tonka Hemingway, DL (Conway HS, SC)
▪ O’Donnell Fortune, DB (Sumter HS, SC)
▪ Dominick Hill, DB (Jones HS, FL)
▪ Joey Hunter, DB (Sandy Springs HS, GA)
Special teams
▪ Kai Kroeger, P (Lake Forest HS, IL)
