Connor Shaw sounds off on Doty, Gamecocks ahead of USC Hall of Fame induction
Connor Shaw has been there.
He knows it. He feels it. He sympathizes with it.
Shaw, the winningest quarterback in South Carolina history, was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday. And while his playing days are behind him, he remains on staff as the director of football relations for head coach Shane Beamer.
Prior to his enshrinement, Shaw spoke at length on quarterback Luke Doty, Beamer and the process of building a winner in Columbia.
“There have been great players in the past four or five years here at the University of South Carolina — first-round draft picks — that we have not turned into winning seasons,” Shaw said. “... I think a lot of that is the accountability within the program, the joy within the program, the standard within the program and then executing. And a lot of that is having confidence in each other, having trust in the coaches, coaches trusting players and then being put in positions to succeed.”
Shaw came to South Carolina on the heels of sustained success unseen for the bulk of Gamecocks football history. Lou Holtz stabilized the program after years of upheaval. Steve Spurrier carried USC to bowl games in five of his first six years at the helm.
Arriving at South Carolina in 2010, Shaw became a three-year starter. His freshman year, though, he was largely relegated to mop-up duty. It was there he learned how to thrive in an atmosphere predicated on competition.
“We were highly competitive,” Shaw said. “Guys like D.J. Swearinger — no one wanted to (mess) with that guy. Melvin Ingram — you didn’t want to (mess) with that guy. Jadeveon Clowney (same thing). We competed so much during one-on-one drills in practice the coaches could barely get a word in. We were coaching ourselves.”
While Shaw learned for a year, he respects what Doty has been thrust into. Doty, who bounced between receiver and quarterback a season ago, missed the first two games of the year with a foot injury he suffered in fall camp.
The former Myrtle Beach High School star has responded with a general ease and consistency in a system Shaw said isn’t too far off from the complex schematics he ran during his stint in the NFL.
“He’s battling through some pain right now,” Shaw continued. “... But he’s a soldier and the guys naturally gravitate toward Luke. This is a complex system that he’s playing in. This is the kind of system I was playing in in the NFL. Declarations, protection schemes, run combos and pre-snap, post-snap coverage is a lot on a young guy. He’ll be better for it.”
Though Doty is still finding his footing, there are bits and pieces of what made South Carolina successful in the not-so-distant past that has permeated throughout the program over the past 12 months. Beamer has brought a positivity and energy to the football complex that was largely lacking in recent years.
For a team that has been through numerous coaching changes, a handful of down seasons and the scrutiny that comes with playing at a Southeastern Conference school, it’s a breath of fresh air.
“You’ve got to remember some of these players have had multiple roles to position coaches, a lot of different voices and so there hasn’t been a lot of consistency in their life,” Shaw explained. “And so for us (we have to) keep showing up, keep preaching the same thing.
“We’re never going to change our keys to victory. The core values are always going to be the same. We’re going to weigh every action, every decision, every thought against our core values and trust the process.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
