2016 State of the Union: South Carolina

It’s been almost five months since Steve Spurrier resigned in the midst of a 3-9 season, and quite a bit has happened around South Carolina’s football program since then.

Shawn Elliott boldly took up the reins as interim coach and found some extra passion and enthusiasm in his players — even if only translated into one victory.

That led to a full-blown coaching search, complete with rumors about who might be coming to Columbia. Stories circulated about Tom Herman and Rich Rodriguez, while fans dreamed of Kirby Smart, Mark Dantonio and any number of other candidates.

In early December, with just 12 verbal commitments for the 2016 class in hand (and some of those weren’t exactly firm), the school hired Will Muschamp.

The choice was treated with a fair amount of skepticism. Muschamp did, after all, fail to live up to expectations at Florida and is as well known for his sideline antics as he is for his defensive acumen.

But without coaching a play at South Carolina, Muschamp has begun to win over fans. He hired a competent staff filled with elite recruiters, and together, they salvaged a recruiting class that otherwise might have set the program back.

He’s saying all the right things and projecting a confidence and energy that has been missing in recent years.

Make no mistake, though. The roster is raw and inexperienced or part of a team that won only three games last season.

This isn’t likely to be a one-year fix, but if early indications mean anything, Muschamp might wind up being the best man for job after all.

Let’s take a look at the Gamecocks’ State of the Union, taking into account the past three years and expectations for 2016.

ON-FIELD PEFORMANCE

SEC standing: Middle of the pack

Grade: C

If you grade the Gamecocks using an SEC East curve, a “C” is about right. Here is a look at the SEC East teams’ performance in the past three seasons:

Last season was the low-water mark, but the previous two were winning ones.

A 24-21 win over Miami in the Independence Bowl helped the Gamecocks finish with a 7-6 mark in 2014, while the 2013 team finished 11-2 with a 34-24 victory over Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl.

With a new coaching staff in place, and what is sure to be a host of new contributors all over the roster, a winning record and a bowl berth would be considered a success this fall.

RECRUITING

SEC standing: Below average

2016 rank: 10

Grade: C-

The Gamecocks’ past three classes, according to 247sports.com, have ranked 10th, 9th and 9th in the SEC. If you’re an optimist, you’ll point out that these are near-top-25 classes every year. But optimism can take you only so far in the nation’s most competitive conference.

Fortunately for Gamecocks fans, there are some excellent recruiters on the new staff, and the work that group did to make the 2016 class even remotely good was outstanding.

Working with a full recruiting cycle, South Carolina should be heading into the top half of the league’s recruiting rankings sooner rather than later.

In the short term, a lack of elite prospects over the past few seasons have eroded the talent level and depth. That’s the sort of problem that only a couple of good recruiting classes can fix.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

SEC standing: Above average

Grade: B+

The previous regime developed talent all over the roster. The starting quarterback in 2014, Dylan Thompson, was a two-star recruit who led the league in passing yards before landing in the NFL.

Pharoh Cooper was a three-star wide receiver recruit who pretty much carried the Gamecocks last fall — so much so that he opted to leave early for the NFL — and linebacker Skai Moore was, you guessed it, a three-star recruit who led the team in tackles last fall.

Development at certain positions, like defensive line, has been more of an issue. It will be interesting to see how the new staff measures up in this area.

FACILITIES

SEC standing: Bottom half of the league

Grade: C

In the never-ending arms race of facilities, the Gamecocks have fallen behind a bit.

Plans are underway, however, to address that. The school has approved the opening phase of construction on a new $50 million football facility.

It may not vault them into Alabama territory, but it will be a tremendous boost for the program and should place it more in line with the rest of the league’s facilities.

COACHING

SEC standing: Top half of the league

Grade: B-

Say what you want about the way he left, but there’s no denying Spurrier’s coaching genius and what he meant to the Gamecocks program.

In fact, you have to go all the way back to the 1998 season for the last South Carolina team not coached by a current or eventual College Football Hall of Famer (Lou Holtz was inducted in 2008).

Those are rather large shoes for Muschamp to fill, and that’s why the real grade here might be incomplete.

Right now, there’s more evidence to suggest that he’s a quality defensive coordinator, rather than a head coach. It’s fair to look at his Florida tenure and wonder how what didn’t work in Gainesville will help him succeed in Columbia.

He’s brought along some of the same coaches that he had with him in Florida, and for better or worse, appears set on trying it again his way.

So, what’s different? He is.

He has to be. He’s older, perhaps a bit wiser and won’t be caught off-guard again by the pitfalls of coaching in the SEC. He’s channeling his famous energy and passion into recruiting (do a Twitter search for #spursup) and has already breathed life into a program that, a few short months ago, was very much in need of some.

One thing seems certain. With Muschamp at the helm, whether he wins big or falls short again, the ride won’t be boring.

Randy Capps

Randy Capps is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, South Carolina and Georgia.