Gamecocks fill needs with 12 signees out of Georgia
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier will not be able to accurately evaluate his incoming class for several years.
“We’ve all signed players that everybody thinks is going to tear them up, but they don’t do much,” Spurrier said. “Then you get some that nobody wants very much and they come in and be good, solid players. Three to four years down the road is when you know how your recruiting class did.”
For the time being, Spurrier was all smiles when talking about the names on the letters of intent that he received on Wednesday, especially because of how everyone in the class honored their commitment.
“Every player that officially committed to us stuck,” Spurrier said. “We didn’t have any defections or anything like that. It was neat that they all stuck with us from the beginning. Statistics show that players that stick to their commitment usually stick in college. Those that change around a few times, a lot of times they change colleges too, so I think we’ve got a good class of young men.”
Not only did the Gamecocks’ commits stick, but they stuck early. Steve Spurrier Jr., the recruiting coordinator, cited a study that says that the earlier players commit, the more likely they are to defect; however, the Gamecocks had 16 commits at the end of the summer when they only had six the year before at that time.
“It’s changed the way we offer people,” Spurrier Jr. said. “When we offer a young man in the summer, there’s a chance he may commit to us, so we better make sure that’s a player we want. Recruiting’s changed a little bit in the summer — you need to make sure you get them on your campus and you need to really try to get them to a camp and evaluate them.”
Though Spurrier won’t be ready to give a real evaluation for another three years when the class has had an opportunity to perform on the field, the achievements of the class look favorable for USC. The class includes four PARADE All-Americans in offensive tackle Brock Stadnik, defensive end Darius English, quarterback Brendan Nosovitch, and wide receiver Shaq Roland. In a class rated No. 18 in the nation and No. 7 in the SEC by Rivals.com, 12 of the 25 signees are from Georgia and just five from South Carolina. North Carolina and Florida were had the third-most signees with three each.
“Georgia is always a state that has a lot of players,” Spurrier Jr. said. “I’m not sure if it was last year or the year before, but Georgia sent more players to the SEC than any other state, so we’ve always known there’s a lot of players in that state.”
Lorenzo Ward, who was promoted to defensive coordinator after the departure of Ellis Johnson for the Southern Miss head coaching vacancy, is responsible for most of the Georgia commitments. Spurrier Jr. said that Ward “really hustled and recruited hard all over the place all year long.”
Why is Ward an efficient recruiter?
“He’s an encourager,” Spurrier said. “He’s not a screamer or yeller so much. He’s a teacher and encourager, so I think he’s an important guy around here as the defensive coordinator.”
The Gamecocks filled their biggest need in Ward’s area of expertise, defensive backs, as well as wide receiver and offensive lineman.
“Last year, we signed a lot of defensive lineman, so this year we knew we wouldn’t be as heavy in that area,” Spurrier Jr. said. “Offensive line is always a need — you like to sign five a year. Five or six offensive lineman a year would really be great, but they seem to be in the lowest supply and in the highest demand. It’s hard to find five great ones, but we definitely try our best. Defensive backs is a need in the secondary and also for special teams because they’re usually your best contributors there, so coach Ward did an excellent job.”
Though it might take three to four years to fully evaluate the class, Spurrier is well aware of how quickly a string of quality recruiting classes can make an impact, as the Gamecocks have been able to have their two best seasons in program history off their recruiting, which, in return, has been a greater draw for more top recruits.
“We’ve certainly got more to offer than we ever have here at South Carolina,” Spurrier said. “We have a track record for winning. We have a track record for graduating our players. We play in the SEC and the facilities right now are about as good as anywhere in the country, so we’ve got a good football program. Our job is to keep it going.”