Spurrier touts changes
USC’s coach welcomes two new assistants and promises to update the offense with some plays for a running QB
Taking a cue from the presidential candidates this election year, Steve Spurrier promised change Tuesday for a South Carolina program that fell from front-runner to also-ran during a five-game losing streak in 2007.
On the day he introduced his new defensive and special teams coordinators, Spurrier’s biggest revelation was that he intends to add another dimension to the Gamecocks’ offense. Spurrier, credited with introducing the downfield passing game to the SEC at Florida in the 1990s, plans to install a package for a running quarterback.
Fresh from the longest losing skid of his career and his first bowl-less season since 1990, the man formerly known as the Ol’ Ball Coach is learning new tricks.
“I hear all these political people talk about change, and we need to change some things around here,” Spurrier said.
Those changes include hiring former Georgia defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder to oversee a defense that ranked last in the SEC against the run and bringing in former Maryland assistant Ray Rychleski to improve a special teams unit that had three punts blocked in the final two games.
Spurrier also conceded the need to modify an offense that was last in the SEC in rushing offense and next to last in sacks allowed.
“Offensively, we haven’t been all that good, either. I’m not picking on anything,” Spurrier said. “We’ve got a kid here now, Stephen Garcia, that can run with the ball. We’re going to have a run-quarterback offense a little bit here and there. I hope Chris Smelley can run a little bit with it. But I’m convinced now that if your quarterback can’t run with it, it’s difficult back there. It’s hard.”
Spurrier pointed out that the Gamecocks converted 48 percent of their third downs in 2006 when the mobile Syvelle Newton started seven games. With Smelley and Blake Mitchell splitting time this past season, USC was an SEC-worst 35 percent on third down.
Garcia, a redshirt freshman from Tampa, Fla., and Smelley, a redshirt sophomore from Tuscaloosa, Ala., are expected to compete for the starting job this spring. Spurrier plans to watch video of a couple of teams that have designed running plays for their quarterbacks.
VanGorder, who endured a tumultuous season as the Atlanta Falcons linebackers coach in 2007, admitted being nervous and uptight the first time he turned on the video of the Gamecocks’ defense, which struggled the second half of the season under former coordinator Tyrone Nix as injuries mounted.
“As I watched the film, I see a group of guys that at times played very good football. I think physically and athletically, they’re a group that showed they’re capable of shutting down SEC teams and SEC offenses,” VanGorder said. “I think my impression was just a mark of inconsistency.”
VanGorder, who was at Georgia from 2001-04, said his goal is to get the Gamecocks “where we’re not great for three quarters or every other game, but ... good and solid each week we play.”
Spurrier put it another way.
“I want to ask our fans to keep screaming on third-and-18 and third-and-21 and third-and-24. Someday we will make those stops.”
Like VanGorder, Rychleski talked a lot about emphasizing “fundamentals over gimmicks.”
During Rychleski’s seven-year stint as Maryland’s special teams chief, the Terps used the same punt formation and never had a punt blocked, the longest active streak in the country.
Asked which area of USC’s special teams needed the most attention, Rychleski said: “That’s an easy question. Quite obviously, the punt team needs to be addressed.”
After Nix left for Mississippi and Spurrier decided to part ways with former special teams co-coordinator Fred Chatham, Spurrier said he was looking for the best candidates available. In both cases, he hired coaches he had not worked with previously and did not know well.
“We’ve got different leadership. We’re going to try to do some things better,” Spurrier said. “Maybe losing those games caused the shakeup, when something’s not working very well. So we’re going to try to do something different.”
See more at www.thestate.com
