20 questions, 20 answers about South Carolina’s football coaching search
South Carolina is searching for its 35th head football coach, a week after firing Will Muschamp with three games left in the 2020 season. Muschamp was 28-30 over almost five seasons with the Gamecocks.
The State’s Ben Breiner answers 20 questions about the decision, how it affects the team and what’s next in the process.
1. Why fire a head coach midseason? If there are benefits to the timing, what are they?
Primarily getting a start on what’s next. An athletic director could conduct parts of the search with the head coach still in place, but it’s not the best scenario for harmony and such. It also has a boost in donor/fan relations. Fans like change, and announcing it’s coming gets people looking forward.
2. South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner said the decision was made Sunday (Nov. 15) to fire Muschamp. How much (and how far back) was the move likely a topic of discussion behind the scenes?
A firing can’t fully come together without some level of alignment behind the scenes and securing some level of funds from somewhere. USC added multiple millions of dollars to future budgets with the decision. That kind of stuff doesn’t come together between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
3. Much has been made of the financial impacts of the move to fire Muschamp, but the exact details aren’t yet public. If Muschamp’s contract buyout was not negotiated down in some way, the school will owe him $3.3 million for each of the next four years, less whatever he makes at a new job in those seasons. Tanner, in a radio interview, said the school “found a path forward” to make it happen. What are the most likely scenarios here?
That’s still kind of unknown. One might guess he’s just speaking about securing financial backing to pull it off. Sometimes schools will pay a lump sum quickly to lessen the overall financial burden, but that wouldn’t help the school in this case.
4. Muschamp was well-liked by his players and staff. What are the opportunities and challenges Mike Bobo will be dealing with as the interim coach these last few games?
The opportunities are just to get a different voice and see if change provides a different energy. The challenges center around the fact a team really could just check out mentally and on the field. Interim tenures tend to not go well, but there are exceptions (Ed Orgeron several times).
5. Is there a place for Bobo, Connor Shaw or any others on the next coaching staff?
Possibly, more for Shaw than Bobo. If the Gamecocks hire an offensive-minded coach, there aren’t a ton who want to take on a QB coach/play-caller, though a couple options could end up that way. Shaw could always return to his off-field role, which is a pretty nice one. Other holdovers just kind of depend on who the hire is. Billy Napier likely keeps Des Kitchings, his college roommate. Coaches tend to hold onto a coach or two, plus some off-field staff. Muschamp kept Shawn Elliott on as offensive line coach and off-field staffers such as Andre Goodman, Robbie Liles and Jamie Speronis in the short term.
6. It’s been suggested it won’t take long to make a hire, or certainly not as long as the 54 days USC took to hire Muschamp in 2015. What’s a likely timeline given that the candidates are still coaching with the current football teams?
Traditionally, FBS coaches get announced the day after their last regular-season game or conference championship game. Usually the news breaks in the days before and there’s an awkward postgame interview with the coach. This year is weird, since the season is pushed back, but that would put most seasons ending Dec. 19 if a team reaches a conference title game. That date would be Dec. 12 if the team didn’t make it. A non-head coach or coordinator, such as Shane Beamer at Oklahoma, might be a little different since he’s not actually in charge.
7. If there’s a top group of candidates, who’s in it?
The names most commonly thrown out are the foursome of Billy Napier from Louisiana; Jamey Chadwell from Coastal Carolina; Beamer; and Liberty coach Hugh Freeze, though the buzz around Freeze seems to be falling off.
8. If there’s a second group, or perhaps some wildcards who might be in that group?
Alabama assistant coach Steve Sarkisian has been mentioned, as have sitting Power 5 head coaches in Louisville’s Scott Satterfield and West Virginia’s Neal Brown. Some folks have brought up Clemson assistants Tony Elliott and Bent Venables. There has also been some connecting of Army coach Jeff Monken to the job because of his ties to USC President Robert Caslen, but the triple-option offense question seems like a hurdle.
9. Hugh Freeze will coach somewhere other than Liberty sooner or later. Fair to say there’s going to be competition for his services?
Almost assuredly. Places such as Tennessee and Auburn seem obvious landing spots if they open. Tennessee seems more likely this season, but the Tigers remain a wildcard. The issues for Freeze range from the NCAA situation he left at Ole Miss to the escort service situation that ultimately got him fired. Tanner said the SEC had to vet the hire, and there’s been some reporting the commissioner would have to sign off on any school in the league hiring Freeze.
10. Shane Beamer, a former USC assistant who is now at Oklahoma, would be an interesting hire given that he’s never been a coordinator. What makes him attractive to USC and what might his staff look like?
There’s been a rise in CEO-style head coaches, great recruiters who oversee and organize while assistants handle the scheming. Ed Orgeron, Dabo Swinney and P.J. Fleck are modern examples, but it goes back to Mack Brown and even Bobby Bowden to a degree. Beamer is a good recruiter who can win over talent, and he’s a coach generally praised for his attention to detail. The question remains how that translates to the big seat.
11. Billy Napier, coaching at Louisiana, has as many connections to the state of South Carolina as any rumored candidate. How much does that background to the state, or at least the South, factor into the hiring process?
It’s probably in there to some degree. Coaching searches often don’t go that far outside the region. We’ve seen a successful one in Bronco Mendenhall, who went from BYU to Virginia, but generally some sort of Southern tie runs through most every rumored candidate.
12. Most of the perceived possible candidates have been asked publicly and directly about the South Carolina opening and said what?
Nothing but “coachspeak.” They like their current teams and are just focused on winning games.
13. How important will a background with success on offense be for the chosen candidate? Is it a guarantee that the hire will be an offensive mind?
Not a guarantee, but a strong likelihood. Even back when Muschamp was hired, defensive coaches were getting fewer and fewer opportunities. There aren’t many high end candidates on that side of the ball, and USC hasn’t been consistent on defense as it is.
14. Is the next hire going to be an assistant coach or a sitting head coach from another team?
Unless it’s Beamer, probably a sitting head coach. And that’s not out of the ordinary. South Carolina has hired a sitting, or at least former, head coach for eight of its past nine full-time hires (not counting Richard Bell’s one year). That run goes back to the mid-1950s. Brad Scott coming from FSU in the mid-1990s was the lone exception.
15. South Carolina is using someone from a search firm as a consultant. Why?
A search firm consultant can reach out, make contacts, act as a go-between and help with the vetting process. There’s value in having someone more steeped in the coaching world who can do that, especially with those coaches still in the midst of the season. It can also bring a different kind of perspective, whereas schools have a lot of folks with a lot of opinions.
16. How are interviews going to take place with the COVID-19 pandemic still a concern? Will anything be face to face?
Who’s to say? It’s certainly less likely. Tanner and his staff would probably be the ones traveling. With the season still going on, it’s less likely a coach could get to a clandestine neutral location, but it is possible. If they got far enough down the road, an in-person meeting would seem to need to happen at some point. You could also have opportunities such as Napier’s game this week getting canceled.
17. And these interviews will happen with some level of secrecy while these other coaches publicly lead their team’s finish to 2020, right?
Yes. They won’t be announced, though they could be found out. When Jim McElwain interviewed with Florida, local media camped out in front of his house.
18. What’s about to happen to this recruiting class for 2021?
Transition. Some players with other options will take them. A new coach is likely to part ways with some kids who are committed to the Gamecocks. This group wasn’t strong to begin with, so attrition was likely.
19. A roster is always impacted by a coaching change, so what are the Gamecocks facing between now and the 2021 season?
The first question is which players who opt out want to come back — and will they be welcomed back? After that, the new coach has to re-recruit his own roster. Then comes the one-free-transfer NCAA legislation that is sure to make things trickier. The question there is going to be whether the NCAA will allow schools to add more than the standard 25 players per cycle.
20. What is this next coach inheriting in terms of culture, roster quality and fan support? What are the pros and cons of this job?
That right there is not super clear. The culture seemed good, but the in-house reaction to Muschamp’s departure has not been good. The roster has some young talent, but it hasn’t played up to expectations, and a good many could opt to transfer. The fan support might be good depending on the name. Ultimately it’s a job with a lot of resources and support in a neighborhood with programs (such as Clemson and Georgia) that have more. It creates an uneasy spot, especially compared to expectations.
