What Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks try to find in a QB recruit
October 20, 2017
In Jake Bentley, the South Carolina football team found something rare.
A quarterback who could step on the field as a freshman and do the job.
Finding that person isn’t easy. Finding any quarterbacks worth their salt is hard. Professional teams have issues with it. College teams often do. So the Gamecocks staff has to look for specific things, but it’s not easy.
“That position is hard to evaluate,” Muschamp said. “Because you don’t really know until they’re under your watch and you’re able to see them manage the huddle and manage the football team and manage a one-minute drive to win the game and manage adversity.”
In short, it’s intangible qualities, the kind that only truly come to light in games or high-stress practice situations.
Muschamp couldn’t have 100 percent known what Jake Bentley would be able to do in that arena, but one moment gave him an idea.
“At Auburn as defensive coordinator, I watched Jake Bentley with his 7-on-7 team,” Muschamp said. “I came away overly impressed with his intangibles and how he positively affected people around him. Being able to watch that first-hand was extremely impressive, and how he handled himself and the maturity that he carries himself with. That’s something that I think is a strength of his and certainly that’s the hardest thing, in my opinion, to judge.”
Before Bentley, Muschamp’s teams had traditionally struggled at quarterback, but they did bring in some solid pieces. His Florida staff recruited Jacoby Brissett (now in the NFL) and Will Grier, now starring at West Virginia. They also inherited Jeff Driskel, who ended up posting big numbers after transferring to a Group of Five school and is now on the fringes of an NFL roster.
After getting Bentley (and losing Brandon McIlwain), the Gamecocks have opted for a pair of athletic, developmental passers in Jay Urich and Dakereon Joyner.
As for what gets a quarterback ready to play early, it’s as much about what they’re asked to do as what they can do.
“The quarterback affects everybody,” Muschamp said. “He’s managing the receivers. It affects what the offensive line has to do, everybody. At the end of the day, regardless of if he’s a freshman or a junior, just find out what he does well and try and accentuate those traits.”
THE STATE
October 20, 2017
In Jake Bentley, the South Carolina football team found something rare.
A quarterback who could step on the field as a freshman and do the job.
Finding that person isn’t easy. Finding any quarterbacks worth their salt is hard. Professional teams have issues with it. College teams often do. So the Gamecocks staff has to look for specific things, but it’s not easy.
“That position is hard to evaluate,” Muschamp said. “Because you don’t really know until they’re under your watch and you’re able to see them manage the huddle and manage the football team and manage a one-minute drive to win the game and manage adversity.”
In short, it’s intangible qualities, the kind that only truly come to light in games or high-stress practice situations.
Muschamp couldn’t have 100 percent known what Jake Bentley would be able to do in that arena, but one moment gave him an idea.
“At Auburn as defensive coordinator, I watched Jake Bentley with his 7-on-7 team,” Muschamp said. “I came away overly impressed with his intangibles and how he positively affected people around him. Being able to watch that first-hand was extremely impressive, and how he handled himself and the maturity that he carries himself with. That’s something that I think is a strength of his and certainly that’s the hardest thing, in my opinion, to judge.”
Before Bentley, Muschamp’s teams had traditionally struggled at quarterback, but they did bring in some solid pieces. His Florida staff recruited Jacoby Brissett (now in the NFL) and Will Grier, now starring at West Virginia. They also inherited Jeff Driskel, who ended up posting big numbers after transferring to a Group of Five school and is now on the fringes of an NFL roster.
After getting Bentley (and losing Brandon McIlwain), the Gamecocks have opted for a pair of athletic, developmental passers in Jay Urich and Dakereon Joyner.
As for what gets a quarterback ready to play early, it’s as much about what they’re asked to do as what they can do.
“The quarterback affects everybody,” Muschamp said. “He’s managing the receivers. It affects what the offensive line has to do, everybody. At the end of the day, regardless of if he’s a freshman or a junior, just find out what he does well and try and accentuate those traits.”
THE STATE
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