Aug. 4, 2013

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Coach Spurrier

Opening Statement
We’ve only had two practices and they’ve been sloppy. It’s been about what you expect, I guess. We allow everybody on the team to participate, so obviously the freshmen and the new players don’t know what’s happening. They are trying. They’ve been pretty good practices as far as effort. As far as knowing what to do, we’re behind. Hopefully, we can get better as we go through the preseason. Everybody is on pace and raring to go. We’ve just got a lot of coaching to do before the first game.

On if this is their best chance for a championship…
Who knows? As far as not playing the top three from the other side, who knows if they’re going to be the top three? Maybe Auburn or Mississippi State or one of those teams may jump up. Arkansas was supposed to be good last year and they went south and Texas A&M jumped up there. Georgia plays atougher schedule. They play LSU. It could matter or it might not. We can’t worry about that. We just take it one game at a time. We’re worried about North Carolina. We’ll be gearing in on those guys 10 or 12 days before the first game.

On the receiver group…
We’ve got some height. Kwinton Smith and Shaq Roland can jump out of the gym. They aren’t all short guys, just a few of them. Both of our tight ends have good height. We’ve got some tall guys who can get it up in the air. I think they’ll be alright. They just haven’t had a chance to play much, but I think they’ll be okay.

On the frenzy around Jadeveon Clowney…
We’ve talked about him for the last seven months after that hit. He and Johnny Football are the only two guys in America that people are talking about. Jadeveon’s hit and Johnny’s adventures. I think Jadeveon is tired of everybody talking about him. He’s ready for team and what we can achieve this year. He’s ready to go. He’s had a good summer. We all know he’s a super player, but it’s a team sport. Football is the ultimate team sport. It takes a lot of guys. He’ll do his part but the rest of us have to do our part, too. It’s time to start talking team, team, team and Jadeveon is ready for that.

On the running backs…
We’ve had teams with two backs that were very good. We’ll see how it plays out this year. Mike Davis had some good runs and so did Brandon (Wilds) the year before. They are both ready to go. Whoever is making the most yards will play more; it’s simple. David Williams and Jamari Smith are two freshman who can go too. We’re in pretty good shape for this year at running back.

On Kelcy Quarles…
Kelcy has done fine. He’s a defensive tackle. We’re hoping he has a good year inside there. Chaz Sutton is another player who has opportunity to really contribute. Those guys are flying around. They lookedreally good out there the last two nights. Kelcy Quarles has the chance to be a big time player. They have the chance to be even bigger for us as we go through the year. Kelcy kind of reminds me of Warren Sapp. He has a little bit of abelly, not a big one. That didn’t slow Warren Sapp down. He can go. He’s ready for a big year.

On scouting North Carolina…
I’ve been watching their defense. Coach Ward and the defensive guys watch their offense. They set all kinds of school records onoffense. They play at a quick pace. They have an up-tempo offense that is alittle bit like Clemson. As fast as they can go. Our crowd is going to have to be ready. Our crowd noise is going to need to be there. I’m sure they’ll be pumped like the Georgia game or Clemson game. A big rival years back from when they were in the ACC. It’s a huge rival game. I think our fans will teach our younger fans that this is a very important game for us.

On starting his ninth season at South Carolina…
I thought it would take nine to win those 64 games. The last three years we’ve won 31 games; that’s why we were able to get over the school record. You go four or five years at the time. I don’t feel much different than eight years ago. My back is a little stiffer, but other than that, hopefully my mind is still okay. I still do the treadmill as much or more than I used to. I feel pretty good. We’ve got a good team and good players.

On keeping off the field issues at a minimum…
I don’t know if it’s what we tell them as coaches. We certainly have our rules and we’ve had to dismiss some players. We try to do it quietly when we have to and the other players get the message. It’s a credit to the seniors and the other guys who have been here. All of these guys show the younger guys how we do it at South Carolina and if you don’t then you won’t be here long. We’ve got pretty good guys who know what to do, simple as that.

On the team’s’ preseason publicity…
I told our team the other day, I’ve been looking at some of the preseason magazines, and the only group that’s top 10 in the country is the defensive line and that’s because of Jadeveon. We’re not known as superstars around here. We’ve got to earn our way and win a bunch of close games. We’ve got to be ready to play. We’ve got to play better than people think we are. You think they have to have something to be No. 7 in the country, but I guess they think Clowney is the star player no one else is on his level. They are goodplayers here, but for some reason they have not gotten the publicity yet.

On Connor Shaw and Dylan Thompson…
We plan on using both of them. It’s Connor (Shaw)’s game every time. If there’s a place for Dylan (Thompson), he may go in there. Connor is our starter. He’s 17-3, the winningest quarterback percentage wise in school history. We have confidence in him. He’s throwing the ball better. He’s healthier now than just about all of last season and he’s ready to go. Dylan is much better too. They are both ready to go.