2008 South Carolina Gamecocks Preview

After the first five-game losing streak of Steve Spurrier’s career cost his team a bowl berth last year, the South Carolina coach decided to shake things up. Spurrier hired a pair of new coordinators, bringing in South Carolina native and SEC veteran Ellis Johnson to run the defense and snagging Ray Rychleski from Maryland to coordinate the special teams. But the biggest change was revealed during spring practice when Spurrier announced he would delegate offensive play-calling duties for the first time in his college career. The Ol’ Ball Coach is handing off to a younger Ball Coach — receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr.

Two Minute Drill

A Quick Look at the Gamecocks

Despite taking a step back from play-calling, Steve Spurrier says he wants to stay at South Carolina at least four or five more years. But you wonder how a second straight season without a bowl bid would affect the 63-year-old’s thinking. Spurrier expected redshirt freshman Stephen Garcia to be his quarterback of the future. But with Garcia’s status in doubt, the Gamecocks’ offense likely will go as far as Chris Smelley takes it. If Smelley limits mistakes and manages games, as he did last season in winning four of his six starts, the defense should keep the Gamecocks close most weeks. First-year coordinator Ellis Johnson has four all-conference-caliber players in linebackers Jasper Brinkley and Eric Norwood and defensive backs Emanuel Cook and Captain Munnerlyn. The backloaded schedule sets up much like last year’s. The Gamecocks close with this five-game gauntlet: home games against LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas, and road trips to Florida and Clemson. The key will be the play of Smelley — or whichever quarterback Spurrier decides to hitch his fortunes to. If none of the quarterbacks step up, it won’t matter who’s calling the plays. The Gamecocks may not contend for an SEC title, but they should be back in a bowl game after a one-year absence.

Spurrier Sr., who helped revolutionize passing offenses at Florida in the 1990s, will retain an active voice in the offense. But the 63-year-old Spurrier says he realized in a staff meeting last year when he was drawing up the offensive plan for an upcoming game that it was time to get his assistants more involved.

“I’m still in charge of the offense. I’m still overseeing it. Even if he is the play-caller I’ll be right there, (saying) ‘Let’s go with this one, remember this one.’ But you’ve got to let the play-caller call them. You can’t be telling them every time what to do,” Spurrier says. “Sometimes you need to delegate a little bit more.”

Spurrier, who is 21–16 at South Carolina, still believes the Gamecocks have the talent to be successful. But he is toning down expectations a bit after saying his team would shoot for an SEC championship in 2007. South Carolina was 6–1 and ranked No. 6 in the BCS standings last fall when Vanderbilt stunned the Gamecocks in Columbia. Spurrier’s team could not recover from the loss to the Commodores or several key injuries on defense, dropping its final five games to finish 6–6.

It was the first time a Spurrier-coached team that was eligible for the postseason missed a bowl since 1988, his second year at Duke.

Offensively, Spurrier must settle on a quarterback following the departure of the hot-and-cold Blake Mitchell, who started all or parts of three seasons but never seemed to win Spurrier’s trust. The Gamecocks also need to develop offensive line chemistry early in camp — a recurring theme during Spurrier’s first three years in Columbia. Johnson, who spent the past four seasons at Mississippi State, inherits a defense that returns 10 of 11 starters. His first priority is shoring up a run defense that ranked 110th nationally last year. The return of middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley from a knee injury should help.

As Spurrier moves into more of a CEO role, South Carolina’s seniors say the Gamecocks need to focus on closing the deal.

“That was one of the biggest things last year: We didn’t know how to finish. It was in our mind, but we just didn’t get it done,” Brinkley says. “We’ve got another tough stretch, but this year we’re working on attitude.”

Quarterbacks

The Gamecocks’ quarterback situation remains muddled due to the suspension of Stephen Garcia. The highly touted redshirt freshman was supposed to factor prominently until encountering more off-the-field troubles. Garcia is suspended until the completion of summer school in mid-August following an underage drinking citation in March, his third arrest or citation since arriving on campus in January 2007. That leaves Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher battling for the starting job. Smelley, a sophomore who is 4–2 as a starter, is a smart player who knows Spurrier’s offense. But there are questions about whether Smelley has the arm strength to deliver the downfield passes in the timing-based system. Beecher, a junior, has steadily progressed despite little game action. More of a scrambler than Smelley, Beecher outplayed the more experienced Smelley for much of the spring and enters preseason practice with a slight edge. “They’re pretty close,” Spurrier says. “When one separates from the other then we’ll know, hey, let’s put him in there. We’ll all know.” Garcia, assuming he returns, and freshman Aramis Hillary could provide Spurrier fallback options.

Running backs

The Gamecocks have a big hole to fill with the graduation of tailback Cory Boyd, both in terms of productivity (903 rushing yards in ’07) and leadership. Mike Davis, a senior from Columbia, steps into the starting role after rushing for 1,658 yards over his first three seasons. Davis, who has three 100-yard rushing games, runs with a low center of gravity and does a nice job of spinning off tackles. But the 5'9", 214-pounder must prove he can pick up the tough yards in 3rd-and-short situations. Sophomore Brian Maddox, the leading high school rusher in South Carolina in 2006, ran for 87 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game after getting only six carries as a freshman. Senior Bobby Wallace missed valuable practice time because of academic issues.

Receivers

South Carolina’s depth in its receiving corps should be vastly improved. While Kenny McKinley set a school record last year with an SEC-leading 77 receptions, there were not enough other receiving threats for Spurrier’s offense to click. But McKinley should get more help this season from Dion Lecorn and Moe Brown, as well as a tight end tandem that could be the SEC’s best. Jared Cook (6'5", 242) and Weslye Saunders (6'5", 273) are big targets with good hands who combined for 42 catches and 572 receiving yards last fall. The two present headaches for defensive coordinators accustomed to seeing offenses run the ball from double-tight end sets.

Offensive linemen

Offensive line coach John Hunt has been slow to identify his best linemen in past seasons, but that should not be a problem this year. The Gamecocks return two full-time starters and two part-timers, although left tackle Jamon Meredith (29 career starts) must sit the first two games in return for the NCAA restoring his redshirt season. Right tackle Justin Sorensen, who has started 18 consecutive games, has developed into one of the leaders up front. He’ll be joined by guards Heath Batchelor and Lemuel Jeanpierre and center Garrett Anderson, all of whom have starting experience. Anderson, who missed most of spring drills with a back injury, has eight career starts at guard and should make a smooth transition to center as long as he's healthy. Hutch Eckerson, who started five games in 2006 before redshirting last year, will hold down Meredith’s spot the first two games. Spurrier has high hopes for Meredith and the rest of the line. “Jamon Meredith ought to be an all-conference player,” Spurrier says. “We’ve just got to get it out of them.”

Defensive linemen

How confident is Johnson in his defensive line depth? The first-year coordinator moved defensive end Eric Norwood to outside linebacker a year after the junior earned all-conference honors and set a school record for tackles for a loss. Jordin Lindsey, the defensive MVP of the 2006 Liberty Bowl, returns after missing last season due to academics. Sophomores Travian Robertson and Cliff Matthews (nine starts at outside linebacker) are speed rushers who should give opposing tackles fits. The interior of the line is not as solid, with the exception of Ladi Ajiboye, a second-team freshman All-American in ’07.

Linebackers

The Gamecocks will boast one of the biggest linebacker corps in the country, with Norwood and Jasper Brinkley each weighing around 270 pounds. The athletic Norwood is confident he can cover backs and tight ends at that weight. South Carolina coaches are less concerned with Brinkley’s coverage skills, as long as the senior resumes his role as a tackling machine. Brinkley had 107 stops in 2006, more than twice as many as the Gamecocks’ second-leading tackler. Rodney Paulk, the other outside backer, started 22 games his first two seasons but made few game-changing plays. Top reserve Marvin Sapp started the final eight games last season after Brinkley was injured, but is coming off hernia surgery.

Defensive backs

Strong safety Emanuel Cook headlines a veteran secondary that includes three juniors and a senior. Cook led the team in total tackles (92) and solo stops (77) last year, and is a big part of the Gamecocks’ blitz packages. South Carolina’s late-season defensive swoon coincided with a foot injury to cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, who had offseason surgery to correct the problem. Senior corner Carlos Thomas has a longstanding spot in Spurrier’s doghouse because of his attitude and sporadic play. If Thomas falters, freshman Akeem Auguste could get the call.

Specialists

Spurrier is excited about the addition of Rychleski, who brought organization and energy when he arrived from Maryland as special teams coordinator. Rychleski spent spring practice developing depth on the special team units, a task that included finding someone to take part of the kicking load off do-it-all Ryan Succop. Rychleski hopes Spencer Lanning can handle the punting chores, freeing Succop to concentrate on kicking.

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