Dec. 19, 2007

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier met with the media on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the hiring of defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder and special teams coach Ray Rychleski.

“We’ve had a couple coaching changes here in the last two days. Ray Rychleski. Rich-LESS-key is how you pronounce his name. I’ve known Ray a little bit, since we played Maryland in the Orange Bowl back (at the end of) the 2001 season. His name sort of came up, I talked to him a little bit and felt like he was excited for a change in scenery to come to South Carolina and coach in the SEC.

“If you have looked at Ray’s track record, which I’ve looked at thoroughly, I just really felt like this guy knows how to coach special teams. Everyone that I asked about him, concurred and he is a heck of a coach. We really need to get our special teams solidified with everyone knowing what they are doing. Our other coaches did a good job but for some reason, whatever we would tell them, it wouldn’t work well enough. The biggest thing about Ray is that he hasn’t had a punt blocked in seven years at Maryland. Hopefully that will continue here for seven years, or however long we get this thing worked out here (at South Carolina). He’s going to run special teams. He is going to have a chance to get the guys going and be there leader on special teams.”

“On the defensive side, yesterday I went over to Atlanta to talk a good hour, hour and a half with Brian VanGorder. He was the coordinator at Georgia for four years in the early 2000’s. He has had a couple of years in the NFL at Jacksonville and Atlanta this year. He is a quality guy with a lot of experience. I really think he is going to do a super job. He is the kind of guy that I was looking for. He is a linebackers coach but he will coach everything on defense. He can over-coach the defensive line, over-coach the secondary players and so forth. Hopefully, we will be a faster, more physical team and a team that plays our assignments better.”

“Our former coach did a super job here. Tyrone (Nix) worked endlessly. Good guy, good coach, sometimes if its not working a certain way you have to make changes. Tyrone has an excellent opportunity at Ole Miss. We wish those guys the best, except when we play them.”

“Getting back to Brian, he is a good family man. He has five children and has been coaching for a long time. He worked his way up through high school, some small colleges. He convinced me that he and his family are ready to settle down a little bit. They are tired of moving and so hopefully we can have him, three to five, seven years, however it works out. He has a three-year deal and Ray has a two-year deal. We are making a strong commitment to these guys that will be an important part of our football program.”

“Other than that, recruiting is going fine. There are still a lot of good players out there and a lot of players that haven’t done anything (with commitments). It will work its way out and hopefully we will have another outstanding recruiting class.”