One more good loss and the coots will quit. here's a coot

Sep 26, 2019, 2:36 PM

article. They are losing hope quickly.

Scott Davis: A Program’s Progress

I’ve been thinking about the 1980 presidential debate lately.

I know, I know. I’m a very strange person.

But still. I keep hearing Ronald Reagan’s legendary refrain from that famous exchange with President Jimmy Carter.

Are you better off than you were four years ago?

I’m asking myself that question, of course, in regards to the University of South Carolina’s football program, which ushered in a new era at the end of 2015 when it introduced Will Muschamp as the new Gamecocks head coach.

The program was undeniably reeling at the time: South Carolina had just finished 3-9 (and watching the team, it somehow felt even worse than that), stumbling to the finish line of a season that had been coached by whatever that Steve Spurrier/Shawn Elliott Combo Platter was.

How time flies. We are now a third of the way through Year Four of the Muschamp regime and…the jury is still very much out on whether we are better off than we were four years ago. Considering how the low the bar had been left in 2015, it’s troubling that we don’t have an answer by now.

From a wins and losses perspective, it’s been a frighteningly consistent parade of .500-ish mediocrity thus far: The Gamecocks are 23-20 and 12-14 in the SEC under Muschamp, with an impressive Outback Bowl win that was bookended by two dreadful losses in lower-tier bowls. Unfortunately, the outlook is trending downward, as the team has lost five of its last seven games dating back to last year.

At 1-3 in 2019 with games against Georgia, Clemson, Texas A&M and Florida, a 3-9 finish (or worse) this season is sadly a very stark and very real possibility. In a results-oriented, bottom-line business, it’s hard to make a case that the program is better off strictly on winning and losing alone.

How about recruiting? Wasn’t this supposed to be the Muschamp staff’s ace in the hole? I don’t think there’s any doubt that this staff is loaded with people who work extremely hard at recruiting, and who are widely liked and respected by players, coaches and parents. From the outside looking in, it just seems like these guys care more about the recruiting operation and are infinitely more organized than their predecessors.

And yet, four years in, we’re seeing about the same results in recruiting that we saw for the majority of the Spurrier Era, with South Carolina finishing somewhere in the Top 25 annually in recruiting according to most major services, but still nowhere near the Top 10 and usually in the bottom half of the SEC rankings (and, to boot, well behind their in-state archrival). In other words, the bulk of USC’s schedule every year is made up of teams who still have many more talented players than the Gamecocks do.

Much was made this off-season about the team finally having “SEC quality depth” for the first time under Muschamp, almost as though this staff had inherited a cupboard full of also-rans and never-were’s that required a comprehensive overhaul (something that certainly seemed to be true at the time).

But would anyone describe this 2019 team as deep after watching them play a few games? When quarterback Jake Bentley went down after Week One, South Carolina’s options to start at QB in the Southeastern Conference were a true freshman who’d never played a second in college, or a redshirt freshman with a handful of mop-up snaps under his belt. The team learned this week that safety Jamyest Williams would be transferring, leading to a flurry of “Who in the world is going to play safety for these guys?” stories and inquiries.

With the utmost respect, Williams wasn’t exactly piecing together an All-SEC campaign at safety in 2019. Deep, well-stocked SEC teams probably wouldn’t be scrambling to find a replacement for his production. I know these are a mere two examples, but nonetheless, I think we can at least admit that it doesn’t feel like South Carolina is loaded with high-quality SEC-caliber talent at every position, which would presumably be the definition of a “deep” team.

Are there more fans in Williams-Brice Stadium than there were four years ago? Are donors and alumni more pleased with the program’s standing than they were four years ago? Do elite recruits across America want to come to South Carolina in a way they didn’t four years ago? Does the national media consider South Carolina to be a “program on the rise” in a way it didn’t four years ago?

If the answer to all of these questions is no, then there’s this one:

Is four years enough time to judge a program’s progress?

What’s Left is Worth Fighting For

Of course, there is still an alternative scenario.

South Carolina could, against all odds, battle back in 2019. The Gamecocks could still beat someone they’re not expected to beat, still scratch and claw their way to a .500 finish and a mediocre bowl berth (which would almost feel like making the Playoff at this point). It doesn’t seem likely, but there are still eight games left to play.

And those games do matter.

Because no matter who you’ve drawn up on your head coaching wish list (whether it’s Urban Meyer, Mike Leach, or the Ghost of Vince Lombardi), the reality is that it would absolutely, positively be better for all of us if this Will Muschamp Experiment ultimately worked.

Switching gears and changing coaches – again – just as Georgia seems to have permanently separated itself in the SEC East and Clemson seems to have permanently separated itself from the rest of the Solar System would make it all the more difficult for the next man up to get this thing off the ground.

If the program is in ashes at the end of this season, it’s going to take more than an X’s-and-O’s guru or a recruiting fiend to revive it.

It’s going to take a magician. And I don’t see any available.

If you missed my column from the Missouri game, you can get lost with me by checking it out here: https://southcarolina.rivals.com/news/scott-davis-island-of-the-lost

GamecockCentral - Scott Davis: Island of the Lost

I needed a break from football. Alone and sitting in the dark on Saturday night after South Carolina’s deflating

. And thanks to all of the readers who sent kind words and interesting thoughts after reading that Mizzou column. I heard from quite a few of you who have been following the program for many decades and, like me, are wondering if our ship will ever come in.

As always, you can reach me with questions and comments at scottdavis@gamecockcentral.com.

I will be in the stands at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday. Look for me – I’ll be the guy cursing, whining, whimpering, yelling, pouting and (hopefully) cheering. See you there.

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Scar just needs to accept that they are a mediocre program, at best, and every few years when they play a pathetic SEC East schedule and Mississippi from the West, and a Charleston Southern or two, they will win 7 games and go to the Birmingham Bowl. That is South Carolina ..... not the teams that won 11 games, but still got nothing to show for it but a nice non-BCS bowl game.

Once every 20 or so years they may strike gold and win their division and then get annihilated in the SEC Championship game but whoever they play. The best thing they can do is keep Muschamp and just live with the fact that they are a middle of the road or lower program. Somebody has to suck .... might as well be them!

One more good loss and the coots will quit. here's a coot

Re: One more good loss and the coots will quit. here's a coot

For one thing, they need to embrace being South Carolina.

@Tiger_swimmer: reminds me of the folks that used to put a

Re: One more good loss and the coots will quit. here's a coot

Re: One more good loss and the coots will quit. here's a coot

Re: One more good loss and the coots will quit. here's a coot

Re: One more good loss and the coots will quit. here's a coot

The article was so well written . . .

Re: The article was so well written . . .

I liked this line

Re: I liked this line

Re: One more good loss and the coots will quit. here's a coot

Their problems begin with their location: next

It’s safe to say they’re cycling out***

Re: It’s safe to say they’re cycling out***

Re: One more good loss and the coots will quit. here's a coot

it looked like they already quit against unc in the first game. ??***

Re: One more good loss and the coots will quit. here's a coot

TigerBoard POTD