Take Two: Are people sleeping on South Carolina?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.
MORE: Farrell on QB transfers | Farrell predicts uncommitted five-stars
THE STORYLINE
South Carolina has been on a recruiting tear recently landing high-end talent led by five-star defensive end Zacch Pickens and the Gamecocks now have the fourth-best recruiting class in the country behind only Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.
Things are definitely looking up in Columbia.
Coach Will Muschamp, defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson, who rightfully gets a lot of credit for South Carolina’s recruiting success, and the rest of the Gamecocks’ coaching staff have had a busy and productive couple months.
Pickens was the big fish but South Carolina also landed three-star linebacker Derek Boykins from North Carolina, four-star defensive end Joseph Anderson out of Tennessee, three-star linebacker Jahmar Brown from Florida, four-star tight end Traevon Kenion from North Carolina and top quarterback Ryan Hilinski out of California since the beginning of April.
With an outstanding recruiting class and a team coming back in Columbia that could be a huge surprise in the SEC East, is South Carolina possibly a sleeping giant in the division, if not the conference?
FIRST TAKE - WES MITCHELL, GAMECOCKCENTRAL.COM
“While it may be a bit of a surprise on a national level that South Carolina is recruiting as well as it is right now, Will Muschamp made it clear from the day he was announced as head coach that recruiting would be a top priority and he built his staff of assistants with that in mind. Almost every assistant came in with some type of previous experience in the SEC, either playing or coaching in the league (and some both). Muschamp also quickly revamped the entire recruiting operation from the way Carolina runs its camps to the evaluation process to adding exponentially more manpower to the recruiting office.
“It has taken some time for it to truly take off, but now that the staff - which has remained intact for the most part - has been able to build relationships in their recruiting territories for the last few years combined with the fact they're recruiting off a surprise nine-win season instead of a three-win implosion, you're seeing Muschamp's vision come into focus.
"T-Rob (Travaris Robinson)" is certainly a strong recruiter and several Carolina assistants have factored heavily into the rebuild, but frankly it starts at the top where Muschamp functions as his own recruiting coordinator and approves every offer that goes out. His personal recruiting effort and relationship with Pickens was key in the five-star choosing Carolina.
"Carolina proved under Steve Spurrier that it's possible for the program to compete in the division. With some recruiting momentum and a 2018 team that returns a lot of proven talent, the buzz in Columbia is that the Gamecocks are pushing into contention for a trip to Atlanta.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARREL, RIVALS.COM
“I’m impressed with the way they’re recruiting. They need to get some offensive players. They’ve done a really good job recruiting for their defense, but this class will be determined and the final evaluation will be on how they do balance-wise.
“When you talk about their recent recruiting, Muschamp and his staff are a huge upgrade over what Spurrier left them. They’re very aggressive. Recruiting against Clemson in-state and all the other SEC teams out-of-state isn’t easy, so for them to be No. 4 right now in the country is very impressive.”