Sudden roster losses make USC’s tough 2020 harder, highlight a program’s fragility
Mike Bobo and Connor Shaw presented the kind of face they have to outwardly so their South Carolina football players can see it.
“You learn a lot more when things go wrong,” Shaw, the Gamecocks’ interim QB coach, told reporters Tuesday. “This is a learning lesson for everyone, and you learn more from that than when things go right.
“We can easily talk about the uncertainty of the future for South Carolina. But there’ll be a time to re-evaluate and to reflect on some things. And now’s not the time. Right now we’ve got Missouri to play on Saturday and practice tomorrow.”
In the short term, six Gamecocks won’t be involved in that practice. Some won’t be there at all. Two other players will be practicing but in a different way, trying to catch up at new positions they’ve been moved to.
Here’s the rundown of South Carolina’s roster news, a flurry of changes less than two days after head coach Will Muschamp was fired seven games into his fifth season in Columbia:
▪ Starting cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft.
▪ Safety R.J. Roderick and reserve defensive lineman Makius Scott opted out for personal reasons or because of COVID-19 concerns.
▪ Defensive end Aaron Sterling and linebacker Brad Johnson are done for the year with injuries.
▪ Running back Zaquandre White is moving to safety to address depth issues there. Offensive lineman Jordan Rhodes, a starter last season, will chip in at defensive tackle.
Bobo, who is stepping in as the Gamecocks’ interim head coach, had praise for players such as White, whose energy and willingness to help were an asset; and Shi Smith, for his leadership, growth and contributions as a senior.
Yet Bobo lamented, to a degree, the opportunity some of the opt-outs have led to.
“It gives them a way out,” Bobo said. “In my opinion, and it’s like anything, human nature, you know, ‘I’ll put it off to later. I’ll start working harder later in the spring. I’ll wait till next year.’ This isn’t the only place that coaches are having issues with a long season and the ability to opt out.”
The departures and injuries leave the Gamecocks with 71 scholarship players, though at least three are out for the near future for various reasons. The resulting 68 figure also includes a few scholarship players whose long-term injuries usually have them not available (wide receiver Chad Terrell, for example).
All of this points to a certain fragility that exists for a modern program. With three games left, Bobo said he hopes this is the end of the opt-outs, but that’s far from guaranteed.
There was a sense that, at worst, the end of a Muschamp era would leave the Gamecocks with a stronger roster and stronger culture than when he arrived. He had built what felt like a base of sorts, something he didn’t inherit from Steve Spurrier.
The proof for that will come years down the line, but at the moment it’s looking dicey.
The NCAA’s pending change to allow one free transfer without penalty is going to make for more attrition on every team’s roster, and South Carolina has a few high-profile guys who might look around. With the 2020 season starting late because of COVID-19, the next Gamecocks head coach will be lucky to have even a full week before he can start signing new players.
Perhaps the only saving grace is that the Gamecocks themselves can hit the transfer market and don’t have the challenge of holding together a highly rated recruiting class through the transition from old staff to new. (USC’s 2021 class is ranked No. 46 in the country, with only five top-500 recruits).
It’s been a long year between COVID impacts, social justice issues coming to the forefront and a trying season that ended the tenure of a coach who most of the players seemed to like a great deal.
The team has three weeks to burrow through with the players who want to stick around. The new coaching staff will inherit a roster facing much more uncertainty than was expected a year ago.
