Eric Wolford question???

[FeatheredCock]

Has he under a underachieve guiding the Offensive line?

Before I decide want to see how he does this year. The offensive has really not change under his guidance. Same issues with pass protection and in the running game. 

I want to this years what the OL will show the improvement need to protect the passer and contribute to the running game.  We have to remember that this past years OL had to replace some starters like Daley, Bailey and a couple of depth guys in Malik Young and Blake Camper. This year the  big uglies where just down right young.  How?  let's look. 7 out of the top 9 were redshirt sophomores or younger. Very young line as you can see. Ten on top of that the injury bug and had 9 different starters on the OL this year with two true freshman, two redshirt freshman, a true sophomore all getting starts. And the cupboard was bare when he got here.

The Gamecocks have talented OL  for 2020 so this should be the year they start to shine. Gamecocks have a lot of pieces to work with.  So I will give it another year.  Thinking here, this applies to the whole staff Muschamp down. 

- Hutcherson- Wonnum- Gwyn- Rhodes- Douglass- Turnetine- Moore- Nichols- Manos- Murphy- Fox- Rogers- Wannamaker- V Lee- Jones

 

[Longhaul]

So hard to tell with the injury situation again last year and one of the hardest positions (imo) to evaluate out of high school and build true depth.  Like you I will be interested to see how they perform this year and am hoping our injury issues will be behind us to the extent that they were.  

 

[Lalli25]

It’s hard to know because so many other factors can make OL look terrible.  

1) OC/Play Calling can make the OL look better or worse than they actually are.

2) QB getting into correct protections, audibles, or getting the ball out on time.

3) RB’s getting to the whole fast, breaking tackles or making the correct cut can change how you think if the OL.   
 

I think this year is a put up or shut up year for 75% of the staff not just Muschamp.  Say we go 7-5 or 8-4, good enough for Muschamp to get another year, if position group of a guy who has been here 3+ years struggles, I’d expect them to be gone after the season.  I’m not calling anyone to be fired, it’s just my observation. 

 

[JimG]

It’s hard to know because so many other factors can make OL look terrible.  

Yep...you really have to look at the blocking in slo-mo to see what's really going on. If there's a run blitz or other scheme going on, 5 OL may not be able to block everyone. 

As stated, this goes back to audibles, play calling, etc. 

 

[AikenGameFan]

Like said, I think they were young but I also think they were improving a lot this year. Really hard to say when not many of us were happy with the OC and his play calling whether we had a decent line or not. At times it looked like no protection for the QB. Other times, no holes for the RB. But like stated, this year, it is time to put out. They are not freshmen rookies anymore. I think Sadarius is going to be a huge influence on those guys. He could have gone and would have probably been drafted late but still drafted. But he decided to come on back for one more year. For a freshman, Nichols played some good ball. You rarely saw him let someone get to the QB. He still needs to learn more about those draws, but I think he will be a big star on our OL. 

As far as Wolford, he has years of experience himself. I feel he is a good coach for that position. Once again, the OC has a huge influence on all that they try.




Coaching career (HC unless noted)




1995


Kansas State (GA)




1996


Emporia State (OL)




1997–1999


South Florida (OL)




2000–2002


Houston (OL)




2003


North Texas (OL)




2004–2006


Arizona (OL)




2007–2008


Illinois (OL)




2009


South Carolina (OL)




2010–2014


Youngstown State




2015–2016


San Francisco 49ers (Asst. OL)




2017–present


South Carolina (OL)



16 years as OL coach. A couple as asst in NFL. 5 years as a HC. You would think he knows what he is doing and he is probably great with those players as far as telling them what they need to do to make it to the pros.

Time to see us have a truly superior OL. Time to see if he can have them ready for some smash mouth football because that is Bobo's way.