‘Joy, believe, fight’: Connor Shaw shares experience, encouragement with USC QBs
As the South Carolina football team prepares for this Saturday’s game against Missouri — reeling from the loss of fired coach Will Muschamp and multiple opt-outs on the defensive side of the ball — the Gamecocks have a new assistant coach with some experience overcoming adversity to beat the Tigers.
Connor Shaw is USC’s quarterbacks coach for the rest of 2020 and will be on the sideline Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. But in 2013 at Missouri’s Faurot Field, he started on the bench with a sprained knee before taking the field late to lead an epic comeback that culminated in a double-overtime win over the No. 5 Tigers.
Suffice to say, the Gamecock great knows how quickly things can change and how important it is to be ready to step up.
Amid all the uncertainty of this week’s preparation, that’s something he’s emphasizing to USC’s backup quarterbacks, sophomore Ryan Hilinski and freshman Luke Doty.
“I think for them, it’s getting mental reps, it’s staying locked in,” Shaw said Tuesday. “I think we’ve all been a part of this game long enough where things can happen on the fly, and when your number is called, you better be prepared, because you might not get another opportunity.
“So I’m very proud of the growth in the room. I’ve had sort of a bird’s eye perspective in the past several months as this season’s unfolded in my position with player development. And they’ve all grown, they’ve all matured and they’ve all gotten better. And that’s all they can do, that’s the only thing that’s in their control.”
This weekend’s matchup may lack the high stakes of that 2013 game, when both teams were ranked and battling for SEC East supremacy. But when the quarterbacks met as a position group and went through their daily devotional Tuesday, Shaw dropped quotes from Scripture, a former coach of his in the NFL and a baseball legend.
“The thing that I said this morning with (interim head coach Mike Bobo) and the quarterbacks is joy, believe and fight,” Shaw said. “I think the first thing is sometimes we forget that this game is meant to be fun, you know? Al Saunders, the receivers coach (for the Cleveland Browns in 2015), said if you erase some of the negativity and the unfortunate circumstances around the game, that sometimes lingers around the game, the game is pure. Like we’re still blocking, tackling and running and catching and throwing. It’s meant to be fun.
“And so we need to have a great level of level of joy when we come into the building and understand that we’re all playing football. And then belief, believe in each other, believe in ourselves individually, believe in the brand, believe in the coaches, believe in the process and the plan. And then fight. Fighters fight. Good things happen to people who don’t give up. ... You know, I read a quote from Ken Griffey Jr. that said when you have fun, it turns pressure into pleasure.
“And there’s not a lot of pressure on us now. We can go have fun playing the game and compete at a high level.”
Missouri (2-3) at South Carolina (2-5)
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC
TV: SEC Network Alternate Channel
Line: Missouri by 6
