re: What is going on with South Carolina's class?

quote:

---

I'm just imagining how yall feel.

---

People will probably disagree but it's been hard to recruit enough high level to elite talent at USC historically.

The way our football teams have to be constructed relies on recruiting the in-between recruits(high 3* - low 4*) and the occasional blue chip recruits (high 4* - 5*).

Then developing these players becomes paramount for the team to win 6-12 games, the division, etc. which is necessary for recruiting more blue chip players than the in-between players. The better recruiting and consistent player development should ultimately produce a title contending team.

We saw how Spurrier and Co. were able to develop the in-between players, the occasional blue chip players, win enough games to be consistently ranked in the top 25, and win the division once. His downfall was that all of the above didn't translate into better recruiting after the 2011-2012 classes. Thus the epic collapse in 2014-2015 and Spurrier's resignation.

The 2014-2015 seasons made the job really unattractive and the new coach search was the responsibility of a 1st time AD that doesn't know the first thing about hiring an SEC football coach. This is how Muschamp became our coach that some believe was our 4th or 5th candidate for the job. Whoever got the job was inheriting a depleted roster on both sides of the ball and had to recruit against Kirby at UGA and Dabo at Clemson.

Muschamp somehow recruited a top 25 class in 2016 and won 6 games to become bowl eligible after the team won 3 games in 2015. This inflated the fan bases' expectations beyond realistic and turned out to be an overachievement in hindsight. He continued to recruit well in the 2017-2020 classes, but that did not translate into winning 8-12 games for those seasons. The 9, 7, and 4, win seasons that followed the 2016 season appear to be the result of the coaching staff not being able to develop players and win big games. This cause and effect has been realized and vocalized by the fanbase to the point of calling for Muschamp's job.

All of this has KILLED the 2021 class. So, we are still in the first step of the football team construction process and not sure if the staff is capable of reaching the next step.

I was ready to give up hope this offseason but am starting to warm up to the idea of Mike Bobo being here for a year or two to see what the offense can become. Hopefully this gives Muschamp a chance to shore up the defense and we can be a team that contends for the division.

The alternative is firing Muschamp but that starts the process over again and like 2016 there is no clear candidate that is a good fit for the job for the reasons stated above.