Shawn Elliott confident in pitch for USC’s full-time job

Shawn Elliott feels good about in the vision for the future of South Carolina football that he laid out this week to athletics director Ray Tanner.

USC’s interim head coach also was pleased with how his formal interview for the full-time job went Wednesday.

“I’m a pretty confident guy,” Elliott told Phil Kornblut on Thursday night on SportsTalk. “Going in I was very confident. Coming out I was very confident. That’s the only way you can be if you’re going after something that you love and you have a great interest in.”

Elliott did not elaborate on specifics of his pitch to Tanner, but did say change is needed and that ideas for doing things differently were shared.

“You’ve got to re-evaluate players,” he said. “You’ve got to see some changes. There may be some changes in coaches, in personnel. There may be some changes in scheme. What I do know is we’ve got a lot of great young men in that locker room. That’s important to build upon.”

The Gamecocks have been looking for a coach since Oct. 12, when Steve Spurrier resigned after 10-and-a-half seasons. Elliott had a 1-5 record to close the year, with the lone win coming in his first game against Vanderbilt.

The Gamecocks are working from “a short list” of candidates and plan to have a hire made by the end of next week, Tanner told The State earlier this week.

“I respect that for him, to do his due diligence and understand that this is an important hire,” Elliott said. “It’s for the University of South Carolina, its football program, the Gamecock fan base, for everyone. I applaud him for taking his time and doing everything in his power to make sure this is the right hire for the University of South Carolina.”