Will Muschamp Previews Spring Practice

The University of South Carolina football team will begin its 2019 spring drills on Wednesday, Feb. 27. Head coach Will Muschamp addressed the media in advance of the first practice.

Opening Statement
“Going into spring, for our football team, looking at our points of emphasis, improving from last year, the number one thing that jumps out at you is turnover margin. We’ve been a very opportunistic team, taking care of the ball our first two years and being very opportunistic defensively, getting the ball off people. Really, it’s a team stat. We didn’t do a good enough job, number one, of taking care of the ball. Number two, we squandered a lot of opportunities of getting the ball of people ending drives, whether it was a tipped ball or an opportunity for a strip attempt, getting the ball off somebody. We didn’t take as much advantage, on special teams or on defense, as we need to. That’s really the stat that jumps out at you. We were minus-six in SEC games and minus-five overall. Six of the seven games we won, we won the turnover margin. The Akron game was the only one where we were on the flip side of that, and we were a better team than they were, so we were able to overcome not taking care of the football as well as we needed to, and we created some opportunities on defense.
 
“That’s the most disappointing thing – 14 interceptions, six in the red zone. Five fumbles, two on special teams. Just far too many self-inflicted wounds, taking points off the board. Field position issues, different things, it creates momentum for your football team in a negative way. That’s the number one thing. It’s not something that we don’t always emphasize, but obviously, it really hurt our football team as we continue to go back.
 
“Really, there are five things we look at going into every single game that we call critical factors in winning the football game. The first thing I just talked about was turnover margin, which is a team stat. The second thing is explosive plays, a 10-yard or more run or a 20-yard or more pass. We’re creating many more explosives offensively than we have before, but defensively we weren’t as good and gave up way too many explosive plays, which changes field position and the momentum of the game.
 
“The third thing is field position. That’s controlled primarily by explosive plays and special teams. We’ve done a pretty good job in three years of controlling field position and winning that battle. In large part, our specialists and our returners have done a nice job of being able to flip the field when we’ve had opportunities.
 
“(Next is) winning in the red zone. Defensively, being able to hold people to field goals. It’s a dagger for the offense to have to go down there and settle for a field goal or no points. Offensively, we always want to come out, especially in the low red zone, a place we struggled offensively, with points, but certainly touchdowns help you more than field goals. We need to continue to improve in the red zone.
 
“In our league, most every game is going to come down to one or two drives in the end of the fourth quarter, so we talk in terms of winning the fourth quarter. It’s critical that we’re able to do that.
 
“You look at those five critical factors in every game, when we’re able to win three of those five, those are the seven games we won. When we didn’t win at least three, those were the six games that we lost. That’s really indicative of how we were, very inconsistent at times in all three phases. That’s where we’ve got to make large improvements, and that’s the emphasis for our team.
 
“Offensively, for me, from a team standpoint, we need to continue to run the ball better versus good people. We’ve struggled to maintain balance against the good defenses in our league. Right now, we’re right at 4.5 yards per carry. We’re at 4.8 on perimeter screens, which to me, a bubble, a quick screen on the perimeter, whether it’s an RPO or not, we don’t count the ones down the field. A ball thrown behind the line of scrimmage is no different than the run game. Our goal is 5.5, so we still have a ways to go to continue the climb to achieve our goal in those situations as far as being able to stay on balance as far as the sticks are concerned, and staying on the field and being able to create runs in those situations.
 
“Defensively, stopping the run (is key). We’re averaging right at 4.87 yards per carry, and we’re at 6.6 on perimeter screens, which is way too much. As far as being able to hold our edges, tackle in space against some of the perimeter screen teams that we face, our goal is 3.3. Really, those two factors are going to help both of us, because both of us need to work on it through spring. As the head coach, you’ve got to see what you need to improve on, on both sides, and that kind of coincides with each other as far as what we’ve got to do.
 
“On special teams, (we need) game breakers. Deebo Samuel is not in the building anymore, so we’ve got to find some guys, and I think we do have a good crop of guys that can do a nice job for us returning kicks. Bryan [Edwards] did a good job for us returning punts. We have two outstanding specialists for us coming back in Parker [White] and Joe [Charlton], two guys we’ve got a lot of confidence it. There are so many little things I think we can be so much better in our punt return game. We haven’t blocked a punt in three years, and that’s something we spend a lot of time on. We’re continuing to do a great job as far as out net punt game is concerned, and with the absence of Deebo Samuel moving forward, we need to continue to do a good job in the kick return game, which I think we’re certainly capable of.”
 
On the team’s personnel changes heading into spring…
“M.J. Webb is going to play guard to start out the first five days of spring. We’re going to see where it goes after that, but we feel like he’s a guy on the interior offensive line that can give us some help. A.J. Turner is going to play cornerback for the first five days of spring ball. He will move back to running back on practice six. We’re trying create depth on our football team, sort of the situation we went through this past year, it’s hard to teach a guy all of the concepts of what we do at any position in one week, but if he’d had some experience playing the position, if we keep his hand in it a little bit, he’s able to help us. We’re going to be a little thin numbers-wise in the secondary, and he’s certainly a guy that is more than capable of playing really good corner for us or really good nickel for us. We want to put him in a situation where it’s fair to him. If needs to move over and play the corner position, we can do that and not worry about having to teach him all of the different things we have to at that position. Certainly, it will help him, and I think from a position multiplicity standpoint, it will help him moving forward and create some value for him as a guy that can possibly get on tape at defensive back like he did last year. He will move back to running back, and that will be his primary position moving into fall camp this time.
 
On the team’s injury situation…
“We have seven guys that are out for spring, because of either surgeries during the season or postseason: T.J. Brunson, Daniel Fennell, Caleb Jenerette, Tyreek Johnson, Caleb Kinlaw, Javon Kinlaw and Rosendo Louis. There is a possibility Tyreek and Caleb will both be in non-contact (drills) by the end of spring based on the progress that they’ve made. Maxwell Iyama is a young man that’s going through a medical condition right now that we really haven’t identified. He will not be cleared until we figured out exactly what’s going on with him right now. Then we’ve got some guys that are going to be in some limited situations, that may not start the spring, but certainly are going to partake in spring ball. That’s Rico Dowdle, Jovaughn Gwyn, J.T. Ibe, OrTre Smith, Jamyest Williams and Eldridge Thompson. There may be one or two guys tomorrow who aren’t totally cleared but certainly are going to partake in spring, and we’re looking forward to getting those guys out there on the field with us.”
 
On schematic points of emphasis during the spring…
“We’ve identified some things schematically that we need to work on. The red zone is something offensively. Defensively, just consistency up front and playing blocks in the running game as much as anything. Fitting from the linebacker and the safety position the correct way. (We had) far too many missed tackles. A lot of that went with some youth that we had at some different positions as the season wore on for us. Those are some things that we’ve identified. We’re going to continue to look at some different things schematically that I’m not going to discuss, obviously. I think we have more competitive depth than we’ve had. Maybe some of the guys won’t go through spring, but I’ve got to look at the big picture of spring ball as we move into summer, and as we move into fall camp, big picture-wise, of having some of the guys back that may miss some spring, which will only be seven guys. But we have more competitive depth across our team at multiple spots, which is going to help our football team.”
 
On what goes into a good group of spring practices…
“I try to look at it day-to-day and week-to-week, then the totality of spring, of how we’ve improved at each position and how each player individually has improved. Have we taken steps forward from practice one to practice 15 by player? If we’re able to do that, and we take positive strides forward, the it’s been a good spring. Don’t regress in any one area, player or position group.”
 
On the changes made with the coaching staff and how it relates to struggles running the ball and stopping the run…
“It’s not one position that creates issues for you. It’s multiple issues. As far as protection, everybody wants to blame the offensive line. Well, at the end of the day, the backs are involved in protection, the tight ends are involved in protection, the receivers might be tied into a protection with the hot route, and the quarterback’s got to understand where he’s protected and where he’s not protected. I just use that as an example. We’ve got to improve across the board at all 11 positions when you talk about the run game. We missed a lot of tackles from the safety position. We misfit some runs at the linebacker position. We’ve got to do a better job across the board.”
 
On the expectations of the running back position…
“More than anything, just consistency at the position, being able to run through contact, and create some explosive runs. In our league, you’re not going to be able to block everybody. There are going to be a free hat in the box at some point, and you’ve got to be able to make a guy miss. That’s something we need to do better consistently.”
 
On the players’ excitement level…
“They’ll all be fired up tomorrow. Everybody’s fired up, but I want to see practice 12, how excited everybody is at practice. That’s where you’ll determine where your enthusiasm is.”
 
On the candidates to fill the kick returner role…
“A.J. [Turner] and Shi [Smith] have experience there. Bryan Edwards has got experience there. [Jamyest Williams] is a guy that can go back that probably won’t partake in any contact this spring. He’ll be non-contact. Josh Vann is a guy that’s certainly got some return skills, so we feel like we’ve got some guys who can do it, and we’ll give all those guys an opportunity during the spring.
 
On the role of Kingsley Enagbare this spring…
“We’re going to play him at end, but he’s obviously a guy that’s got some versatility, that can rush inside, especially when you get in one-minute and third-down situational things. You can match him up on a guard inside, and he’s got a feel as far as blocks inside. He really progressed as the year wore on and did a nice job rushing the passer inside. We’re going to start him out at end this spring. He’s a guy we feel has got his weight in a good situation. He’s moving well in the offseason program. I’m excited to see how he progresses during the spring.”
 
On the importance of developing the quarterbacks in the spring…
“There’s no question that those guys will all get a fair amount of reps, and we’ll be able to rep Dakereon [Joyner], Ryan [Hilinski] and Jay [Urich] through there. All three guys have had really good offseason programs and worked extremely hard and put themselves in this position. Now you’ve got to go out there when there are 11 on the other side and perform well, and certainly I think all three are capable.”
 
On the possibility of Ryan Hilinski playing in 2019…
“I want the best quarterback that we can (have) at the University of South Carolina, and we’ll see how that presents itself as we move forward.”
 
On the offensive line depth chart heading into spring practice…
“We would start out tomorrow with Sadarius Hutcherson at left tackle, (and) Donell Stanley at left guard. We feel very comfortable with Chandler Farrell or Hank Manos at the center position. We’re a little bit unsure with the right guard position right now. Eric Douglas and Jordan Rhodes are two guys that we think are certainly capable at the position, and Dylan Wonnum (will play) at right tackle. That’s going to be pretty fluid through the spring. I think Eric [Wolford] does a really good job of introducing different concepts to his guys as far as being able to play inside and outside. Last year, Hutch practiced a lot outside in case of injury and different things that could have happened. That’s why, comfort-wise, he’s going to be fine moving out to the left tackle position. Donell is a guy that can go back and play center if we need (him) to. He certainly is capable of that, so we have some position flexibility as far as those guys are concerned on the offensive line. We need to find out where some more quality guys, as far as depth is concerned, we are going to need to have moving into the season.
 
On the role of Zacch Pickens in his first spring…
“Zacch is going to play both (inside and outside). He can play both end and tackle. He’s athletic enough to slide outside and play the end position. He can play both. He’ll play both spots. We’ll cross train Devontae Davis and Jabari Ellis, and obviously Keir [Thomas] has done it for us before.”
 
On the long snapper position…
“Collin Bunch, whose father played here, is from Pendleton High School, and we’ve added him to our roster. Jackson Locklier, who played at River Bluff and Charleston Southern, we’ve added to our roster as well.”
 
On dividing snaps between the quarterbacks in spring practice…
“We’ve talked at length about this before spring. With Dakereon [Joyner], Jay [Urich[ and Ryan [Hilinski], they all need to get opportunities with our first group and a fair number of snaps with our other groups. We’ll work those through spring, but we can’t do that every single day with every single guy. They’re not going to get the same opportunities through a given day, but through a collection of a week of practice we need to come out and they all need to be about the same number of snaps with the same number of groups and that’s what we plan on doing.”
 
On if the staff will have decided on a No. 2 quarterback by the end of spring…
“I would hope so, but again I’m not going to put a timetable on it. At the end of the day, we’ve got 15 practices, and then we’ve got a select number of practices going into fall camp before we really need to make that decision. That’s not something as far as a time concern is concerned. They’re all young players. They’re all continuing to improve. We’ve been pleased with their progress, but now we’re going to play football. We’re not going to be doing seat rolls and things like that with our quarterbacks, at least I don’t plan on it, as far as practice is concerned. We’re looking forward to seeing those guys make good decisions and lead our offense.”
 
On Jake Bentley and if he is the starting quarterback heading into spring practice…
“There’s no question. Right now, he’s our best quarterback on our roster. He needs to play well, and he understands that. That’s the truth with every position. We’ve had some guys that have played a lot of football here and been very successful. If somebody comes in here and outplays him then we’ll go with another guy.”
 
 On Jaycee Horn and Dylan Wonnum taking the next step after starting as freshmen…
“As much as anything, you try and show the film of the different things they need to improve on. Every player has huge room for improvement. Speaking of those two young men, those are two of the most coachable guys we have as far as recognizing the things they need to work on to improve to be the best player they can be. There’s a lot of things as you go through the tape and you sit down and the tape of, ‘Wow, these are some things we can really take some strides and improve in these 15 opportunities we have.’ Every day we step on the field, you either get better or worse. You never stay the same. You’ve got opportunities every single day to improve yourself, whether that’s in the meeting room, a walkthrough atmosphere or on the practice field.”
 
On evaluating the linebacker position this spring…
“He’ll [Eldridge Thompson] be non-contact through the spring with a shoulder injury, but he’s going to partake in everything. T.J. Brunson is the only guy out. Rosendo (Louis) is limited. There’s a lot of area for improvement. Ernest Jones is a guy that came on late in the year for us as a true freshman and undertook a very operation there at the Mike linebacker. I think he’s had a good offseason. Sherrod Greene can play both the Mike and the Will, but a guy that needs to be able to learn both in those situations and continue to progress as a player. Damani Staley I thought, again, another guy that took some strides for us defensively as the year wore on and did some nice things for us. Derek Boykins is a player that we’re excited about coming along for us. He’s a young player. To see him move around in the offseason program, he fits. A guy that we’re excited about. All those guys will have opportunities. We need to improve in the entire group, be more productive within the group and I certainly think we’re capable of doing that.”
 
On the improvements that need to be made at the quarterback position…
“You continue to take more and more reps and the game continues slow down. Jake (Bentley) could stand up here and give you a laundry list of things he could work on. The number one thing is we’ve got to take better care of the ball. We had 14 interceptions – they’re not all on Jake. We had a tipped ball off a face mask for a touchdown against Georgia; they’re not all on him. We had six interceptions in the red zone. Again, they’re not all on him, but that’s far too many turnovers from that position. He understands that, and that’s the number one area where we’ve got to make improvements as a football team.”
 
On Chad Terrell and OrTre Smith returning to the lineup…
“Chad’s fine. He’s been cleared. He’s gone through the entire offseason program and has had a really good offseason program. You need to take the next step, another opportunity to prove yourself and gain the confidence in Coach [Bryan] McClendon and our offensive staff and continue to make strides. Those guys are certainly capable. We missed OrTre last year. He played really good football for us a true freshman. Unfortunately, Chad had the injury last spring, but another guy – we have a lot of upside – number one, helping us at the receiver position, and number one A, is helping us on special teams. That was an issue, is as the year wore on, we lost a lot of speed on special teams with some of the injuries we had.”
 
On the changes in the offense with a lot of experience returning…
“We opened it up pretty good last year and the end of the deal, and again, we need to go back, no different than you do in any year, you guy back and say ‘what did we do well? Why did we do it well, and what do we need to do well moving forward with who we have?’ Obviously, Deebo Samuel was a huge part of some of that. He’s not here anymore, so moving forward, let’s figure out what our guys do best. I think that’s a great opportunity in spring. You go through spring, and you say ‘these are the things we do best.’ Coming out of spring, as we go into fall camp, we’re identifying what our guys do best. Who can we rely on? Who can we count on to make plays for us? Who’s going to create a mismatch for us outside? Who can create a mismatch for us in the middle of the field. Those are all questions that we all need to feel comfortable with leaving spring ball as we move into fall camp. And then with the freshmen, who can help us? I’m going to tell the team tomorrow morning – ‘you create your role as a football player and the perception we have of you going into fall camp.’ It’s being created through the offseason program, through spring training, and through the summer program. This is a huge time to impress a position coach, the coordinator and the head coach. Those are the opinions that matter.”
 
On the up-tempo offense and if the Gamecocks will use it next season…
“Absolutely. Whatever we need to do to move the football and score more points. That’s the goal of every game.”
 
On the status of Aaron Sterling…
“He’s fine. He’s cleared for everything.”
 
On Evan Hinson and his decision to play football exclusively moving forward…
“Again, that was Evan’s decision. Frank [Martin] was great. I know it wasn’t great for our basketball team, because we only have eight guys right now who are healthy, so it’s a hard deal for frank and those guys. That was something Evan called me about and wanted to do. We support him. He will miss a couple of conflicts, class-wise, on certain afternoons. His classes obviously were in the morning for basketball practice in the afternoon, and we do everything in the morning, so there are a couple of conflicts, and I think tomorrow is one of the days that there is a conflict with class. If he’s not out there, he’s fine. He’s at class. Our guys actually got to class here. But we’re excited to have Evan. He’s a really good athlete, and I think what he was doing was really hard. It’s hard to play both sports and be fair to yourself in both situations. Those were his comments to me, that moving forward he felt like he really needed to dedicate himself to football. That’s what he wanted to do, and we appreciate how Frank has handled it. Frank and I are very close, and I think a lot of him.”