South Carolina’s Class of 2009 included many players who were responsible for the best stretch of success in school history – cornerback Stephon Gilmore, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, tight end Justice Cunningham, free safety D.J. Swearinger, strong safety/spur linebacker DeVonte Holloman.
In 2008, USC brought in several other key contributors who took redshirt years that resulted in them being seniors this season – defensive end Devin Taylor, linebacker Reggie Bowens, linebacker Shaq Wilson, center T.J. Johnson.
In their careers, those players have watched USC improve from 7-6 (3-5 SEC) to 9-5 (5-3) to 11-2 (6-2) and to 8-2 (6-2) so far this season, with three games remaining.
When USC’s seniors walk off Williams-Brice Stadium’s field for the final time Saturday afternoon, after playing Wofford, they will leave behind a trail of success that was impressive, though probably not surprising. Guys like Gilmore and Jeffery (who left early for the NFL), Swearinger and Holloman, they were supposed to be really good players. And they are.
Consider that USC’s Class of 2009 was ranked No. 12 nationally by Rivals.com, compared to No. 22 for the Class of 2008. USC had gotten very good recruits before 2009. The Class of 2007, coach Steve Spurrier’s third, was ranked No. 6 – up from No. 23 in 2005 and No. 24 in 2006.
That 2007 class included defensive ends Cliff Matthews and Melvin Ingram (a future first-round NFL draft pick), defensive tackles Ladi Ajiboye and Travian Robertson, cornerback Chris Culliver and quarterback Stephen Garcia, who won his share of games before getting kicked off the team midway through last season.
Between the recruiting classes of 2007, 2008 and 2009, USC built the foundation for a winner, and laid a path for successful recruiting in the future. USC’s classes of 2010-12 ranked Nos. 24, 18 and 19, and the Class of 2013 is currently ranked No. 13. Of course, in 2011, USC landed the nation’s top-ranked recruit, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.
Spurrier inherited a team whose recruiting classes of 2002-04 ranked Nos. 11, 8 and 38, and managed to get better players largely because of facilities improvements.
“The biggest different is we’ve got better players and better coaches, I think,” Spurrier said when considering his program’s growth over the past three seasons, and how he got to the point that he could tie USC’s coaching wins record with his 64th victory on Saturday. “The facilities here now are such that we can recruit the top players in our state and some of the top players in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida. We’ve had a changeover the last eight years facility-wise. That brings better football players, better assistant coaches, better trainers, strength coaches, the whole bit.”
Spurrier saw a lot of parallels in USC to his previous college coaching job, at Florida, where he took over in 1990.
“The tradition was not all that great (at USC), was not all that super,” he said. “Nowhere to go but up. I like those situations. I had a few buddies say, ‘You can’t win there. Nobody else has. Why do you think you can?’”
Spurrier said he thought he could “because it is a big state university with excellent high school talent in the state. If we could get it going the right way, certainly you think you can do it. You’ve got to be to recruit your instate players to start with and then branch out from there. I thought, like some people thought, that here was a place that has not reached its potential yet – very similar to Florida in 1990. They had not reached their potential prior to that.
“I was lucky to be there at the right time and the right place. That is what coaching is all about – get somewhere at the right time, at the right place with some good players. It took a few years to get real good players here, but we’ve got a lot better players now than those first few years.
“We had our ups and downs, but we’re winning games now that we used to lose. If you looked at the game the other day, we weren’t a whole lot better than Arkansas, yet we won by 18 points somehow. The Tennessee game was very similar, too, 38-35, that maybe five or seven years ago we used to lose. Winning breeds more winning. Unfortunately losing does the same thing as we all know. We still haven’t got (USC’s program) where we hope to have it someday.”
Spurrier thought about what his fondest memory was of this senior class.
“Hopefully, it is still down the road,” he said. “Hopefully these guys, the best feeling is down the road for them.”
A couple other noteworthy things Spurrier said at his Tuesday press conference …
** “Injury wise we’re pretty healthy. Connor Shaw did not practice last night. I think he is scheduled to practice a bit today. He sort of re-injured his foot a little bit in the fourth quarter of the game last week, but he should be ready to play Saturday and go from there.”
** “Jadeveon Clowney (foot) probably won’t practice against today, but hopefully he should be ready by Saturday also.”
link: http://blog.postandcourier.com/spur-of-the-moment/
In 2008, USC brought in several other key contributors who took redshirt years that resulted in them being seniors this season – defensive end Devin Taylor, linebacker Reggie Bowens, linebacker Shaq Wilson, center T.J. Johnson.
In their careers, those players have watched USC improve from 7-6 (3-5 SEC) to 9-5 (5-3) to 11-2 (6-2) and to 8-2 (6-2) so far this season, with three games remaining.
When USC’s seniors walk off Williams-Brice Stadium’s field for the final time Saturday afternoon, after playing Wofford, they will leave behind a trail of success that was impressive, though probably not surprising. Guys like Gilmore and Jeffery (who left early for the NFL), Swearinger and Holloman, they were supposed to be really good players. And they are.
Consider that USC’s Class of 2009 was ranked No. 12 nationally by Rivals.com, compared to No. 22 for the Class of 2008. USC had gotten very good recruits before 2009. The Class of 2007, coach Steve Spurrier’s third, was ranked No. 6 – up from No. 23 in 2005 and No. 24 in 2006.
That 2007 class included defensive ends Cliff Matthews and Melvin Ingram (a future first-round NFL draft pick), defensive tackles Ladi Ajiboye and Travian Robertson, cornerback Chris Culliver and quarterback Stephen Garcia, who won his share of games before getting kicked off the team midway through last season.
Between the recruiting classes of 2007, 2008 and 2009, USC built the foundation for a winner, and laid a path for successful recruiting in the future. USC’s classes of 2010-12 ranked Nos. 24, 18 and 19, and the Class of 2013 is currently ranked No. 13. Of course, in 2011, USC landed the nation’s top-ranked recruit, defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.
Spurrier inherited a team whose recruiting classes of 2002-04 ranked Nos. 11, 8 and 38, and managed to get better players largely because of facilities improvements.
“The biggest different is we’ve got better players and better coaches, I think,” Spurrier said when considering his program’s growth over the past three seasons, and how he got to the point that he could tie USC’s coaching wins record with his 64th victory on Saturday. “The facilities here now are such that we can recruit the top players in our state and some of the top players in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida. We’ve had a changeover the last eight years facility-wise. That brings better football players, better assistant coaches, better trainers, strength coaches, the whole bit.”
Spurrier saw a lot of parallels in USC to his previous college coaching job, at Florida, where he took over in 1990.
“The tradition was not all that great (at USC), was not all that super,” he said. “Nowhere to go but up. I like those situations. I had a few buddies say, ‘You can’t win there. Nobody else has. Why do you think you can?’”
Spurrier said he thought he could “because it is a big state university with excellent high school talent in the state. If we could get it going the right way, certainly you think you can do it. You’ve got to be to recruit your instate players to start with and then branch out from there. I thought, like some people thought, that here was a place that has not reached its potential yet – very similar to Florida in 1990. They had not reached their potential prior to that.
“I was lucky to be there at the right time and the right place. That is what coaching is all about – get somewhere at the right time, at the right place with some good players. It took a few years to get real good players here, but we’ve got a lot better players now than those first few years.
“We had our ups and downs, but we’re winning games now that we used to lose. If you looked at the game the other day, we weren’t a whole lot better than Arkansas, yet we won by 18 points somehow. The Tennessee game was very similar, too, 38-35, that maybe five or seven years ago we used to lose. Winning breeds more winning. Unfortunately losing does the same thing as we all know. We still haven’t got (USC’s program) where we hope to have it someday.”
Spurrier thought about what his fondest memory was of this senior class.
“Hopefully, it is still down the road,” he said. “Hopefully these guys, the best feeling is down the road for them.”
A couple other noteworthy things Spurrier said at his Tuesday press conference …
** “Injury wise we’re pretty healthy. Connor Shaw did not practice last night. I think he is scheduled to practice a bit today. He sort of re-injured his foot a little bit in the fourth quarter of the game last week, but he should be ready to play Saturday and go from there.”
** “Jadeveon Clowney (foot) probably won’t practice against today, but hopefully he should be ready by Saturday also.”
link: http://blog.postandcourier.com/spur-of-the-moment/
