Will Muschamp and his staff providing hope

Dec. 6, athletic director Ray Tanner hired Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp to take over as the head coach for the South Carolina football team. Muschamp has previous head coaching experience, leading the Florida Gators to a 28-21 record from 2011-2014. Muschamp had mixed results in Gainesville, evidenced by an 11-2 record in 2012, followed by an abysmal 4-8 season in 2013.

A former safety at Georgia, Muschamp is known for his prowess on the defensive side of the ball, as he served as a defensive coordinator for Valdosta State, LSU, Auburn and Texas. He also spent 2005 as the associate head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Muschamp comes from a great coaching tree, having served under Nick Saban, Gus Malzahn and Mack Brown.

Muschamp is bringing in multiple assistants from his tenure at Florida, perhaps none more controversial than offensive coordinator Kurt Roper. Roper was a college quarterback at Rice, and he has been a quarterbacks coach at Ole Miss, Kentucky, Tennessee, Duke and Florida, in addition to serving as the offensive coordinator for the Rebels, Blue Devils and Gators. Roper spent 2015 serving as an offensive assistant for the Cleveland Browns staff.

Roper, who was Eli Manning’s quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Ole Miss, spent 2014 with Muschamp in Gainesville, leading an offense that could be considered average at best. Roper’s Gators scored 27.9 points per contest, which ranked a mediocre 72nd in the nation. His year at Florida may not have gone quite as planned, but Roper ran some lethal offenses at Duke, averaging north of 31 points per game in 2012 and 2013.

Former Gamecock quarterback Connor Shaw, now with the Cleveland Browns, referred to Roper as “one of the most brilliant offensive minds [he’s] ever been around” and a “godsend.”

Muschamp had little success with his offensive coordinator hires at Florida, as Charlie Weis and Brent Pease also had minimal success. However, with mobile quarterbacks, including incoming freshman Brandon McIlwain, Roper has the proper personnel to run his spread formation that gave him such great success at Duke.

On the defensive end, Muschamp seems to have hit a home run with defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson. A former NFL safety, Robinson has been with Muschamp for the last five seasons, all four at Florida and 2015 at Auburn. Robinson is regarded as a great recruiter, as ESPN ranked him as the best recruiter amongst assistant coaches in 2013. Robinson recruited projected first-round picks Vernon Hargreaves III and Jalen Tabor to Florida, and the hope is that he can bring elite talent to Columbia as well.

Robinson will be helped out by former South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson. Johnson was replaced by Muschamp at Auburn, but is most well-known for his success as the defensive coordinator under Steve Spurrier from 2008-2011. Johnson was only a part of the first of South Carolina’s three 11-win seasons, but he set the program up for its successful run through recruiting and developing talent, including earning the commitment of Jadeveon Clowney.

Only one member of last year’s staff was retained: offensive line coach Shawn Elliott. Elliott served as the interim head coach for part of 2015, leading the team to a 1-5 record, but keeping the Gamecocks competitive in every game, including narrow losses to Florida and Clemson.

Muschamp found another great recruiter in wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon, who was named 247 Sports Recruiter of the Year in 2014. McClendon has been the recruiting coordinator for Georgia for the last two seasons, bringing in a top-10 class in 2015.

As Muschamp learned at Florida, assistant coaching hires can make or break a team’s success. The new head man seems to have assembled a strong staff for the Gamecocks with strong recruiters and solid position coaches.