Ray Tanner meets with USC players to discuss coaching search
South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner and senior associate athletics director Charles Waddell met with the Gamecocks football team for nearly 45 minutes Wednesday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“The players had asked to visit with Mr. Waddell and myself,” Tanner said following the meeting. “It was a closed door meeting. It was between the football players and Ray Tanner and Charles Waddell.”
The status of interim head coach Shawn Elliott remains unchanged, Tanner added. Elliott is 1-4 since replacing Steve Spurrier, who resigned following the Oct. 10 game against LSU. Elliott was named interim head coach that week and promptly won his first game, a 19-10 victory over Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks have lost four straight since, including last week, when they fell 23-22 to The Citadel.
Elliott addressed the uncertainty of his future on his “Carolina Calls” radio show on Tuesday night.
“I said (to the team) I don’t know if in four or five days if I’m going to be your coach,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m going to be around here but I want you to look to the right and the left of you. Don’t worry about me, I’m going to be fine, but look to the right and left of you. Look at your teammates. Look at their eyes. Those are the guys you are playing for right now. Play for your family.
“The guys that have sweated. Play for those guys. I want you to know whether I have an opportunity to see you after the game, I love you, I wish you the best of luck, as I do the University of South Carolina. Shawn Elliott and our family, we’re going to be fine regardless. I can go out and I can do a million things, but my blood and everything I have put in this program will never be forgotten and I’m so proud to have had the opportunity to be here. I think I have put my stamp on it. I really have. If I don’t ever get to step another foot in Williams-Brice Stadium, I’m going to be so proud I was here.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2015 at 2:23 PM.