The USC Football Recruiting Evolution During the Spurrier Era

Every college football fan across the Southeast knows there are two seasons on the college football calendar. There is the actual football season in the fall, and the rest of the calendar is devoted to the decisions of high school seniors – known as football recruiting. I became susceptible to “recruiting fever” back in the mid-90’s and followed a website called Plano’s Page. I would supplement my need for football recruiting information by making a bi-weekly trip to Capitol City Newsstand, on the corner of Main & Gervais streets in downtown Columbia, and purchase the Recruiting News publication written by Phil Kornblut. In today’s digital world there is no need to wait for the written word, when there are a plethora of internet options for us recruit-niks to choose. I advocate www.thebigspur.com when it comes to inside information on Gamecocks football, basketball, baseball and especially recruiting, which encompasses all USC sports. This site comprises the best team of Gamecocks recruiting analysts/insiders, Tony Morrell (Gamecock Insider), JC Shurburtt (National Director of Recruiting for www.247sports.com), Josh Low (Recruiting Analyst), William Gunter (basketball insider) and John Whittle (baseball insider), and IMHO if you want to invest $9.95/month, choose www.TheBigSpur.com when it comes to Gamecocks’ recruiting. I find it well worth the small investment.

As you can tell, I follow Carolina football recruiting and have for 15-plus years. There is an obvious reason why the Gamecocks made its first appearance in the SEC Championship Game last year, and the answer is that the depth chart has been transformed dramatically since 2006. I found a great article that JC Shurburtt posted on TheBigspur.com that looked back at the institutions USC was going head-to-head with for recruits since the highly acclaimed 2007 Signing class of Garcia, Culliver, Matthews and Ajiboye. In the last four cycles (’08,’09, ’10 & ’11), Carolina has battled upper tier SEC powers (BAMA, UF, UGA, Auburn & UT) and won its fair share of recruiting wars. Remember in 2008 Clemson signed a Top 5 National class, which included DaQuan Bowers and the Tigers cleaned USC’s clock in-state that year. Carolina only signed one top five recruit inside the Palmetto State borders in 2008 and that prospect was C.C Whitlock. The fall of 2008 saw in-state rival Clemson stumble after a Top 10 pre-season ranking, by mid-season Tommy Bowden resigned and a young Wide Receiver’s coach named Dabo Swinney took the reins of the Tigers’ football program. Swinney would be named Clemson’s Head Football Coach one week after pummeling Spurrier and the Gamecocks in Death Valley but the recruiting DNA at USC had begun to change mid-October of 2008, when USC landed Stephon Gilmore (beat BAMA), then Devonte Holloman de-committed from Clemson post-Bowden resignation and committed to USC and then, on Signing Day Eve in February 2009, Calhoun County star Alshon Jefferey turned down overtures from Tennessee HC Lane Kiffen (remember the infamous Kiffen comment, “If you go to South Carolina you will end up pumping gas”?) and national power Southern Cal. In 2010, USC landed South Carolina Mr. Football RB Marcus Lattimore in a heated recruiting battle with Auburn. Last year, the Gamecocks did very well in-state and secured a number of highly rated prospects, especially along the defensive line – none bigger than Jadeveon Clowney, who also considered Alabama and Clemson. This year, the state of South Carolina is down talent wise; so USC has gone into the border states (GA & NC), Florida and then spot recruiting up I-95 in the New Jersey and the D.C areas.

Because The Big Spur is a subscription-only site, I can’t share their information out of respect for their subscriber base, so if you’re a member, be sure to check out JC Shurburtt’s head-to-head analysis.

It is clear that the performance level on the field at Williams-Brice is a product of better player evaluations, the best set of recruiters a Carolina staff has ever enjoyed, and Spurrier and company have sealed the Palmetto State borders and convinced the top talent to stay home and play in the SEC.

As for next year, our 2012 (Verbal Commitments) are already very promising…
Shaq Roland (SC)- USC beat Georgia and Alabama
Brock Stadnik (NC)- USC beat Virginia Tech, Auburn and others
Jody Fuller (NC)- USC beat North Carolina, Clemson and others
Kwinton Smith (SC)- USC beat Florida, LSU and Alabama
Kaiwan Lewis (NJ)- USC beat Florida and Tennessee
Joe Harris (GA)- USC beat Georgia/Mississippi State
Kelvin Rainey (FL)- USC beat Georgia/Miami
Brendan Nosovitch (PA)- USC beat Virginia
Kyle Fleetwood (GA)- USC beat Ole Miss, Penn State, Stanford and Vandy
T.J. Gurley (GA)- USC beat Mississippi State
Cody Waldrop (FL)- USC beat Georgia
T.J. Holloman (GA)- USC beat Louisville
Carlos Hood (GA)- USC
Rico McWilliams (GA)- USC beat South Florida- 20-plus offers
Darius English (GA)- USC beat Auburn
Kendric Salley (SC)- USC was only offer
Clayton Stadnik (NC)- USC beat Virginia Tech and Wake Forest (package deal with his brother Brock)
Mason Zandi (SC)- USC beat Clemson

2012 Prospects that Carolina is still pursuing in recruiting:
Safety: Elijah Shumate (New Jersey) – USC, Rutgers & Notre Dame; USC leads
Spur: Jordan Diggs (Florida) – USC legacy with 20-plus offers; USC frontrunner
Defensive lineman: Jonathan Bullard (North Carolina) – USC, Florida, Clemson and Alabama; UF, USC & Clemson lead
Athlete: Chris Brown (Hanahan, SC) – USC, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame; USC leads
Cornerback: Chaz Elder (Atlanta, GA) - USC, UGA and Vanderbilt; USC leads
Defensive End/Linebacker: Tyriq McCord (Tampa, FL) – USC & Florida; USC leads; McCord attends Staphen Garcia's former high school
Athlete: Stefon Diggs (Maryland) – Miami, Auburn, USC, Florida & Alabama
Defensive Lineman: Carlos Watkins (North Carolina) – Clemson, Florida, Alabama and USC; Clemson leads
Eddie Goldman (Washington, D.C.) – Alabama, Florida State, Auburn, Clemson, Maryland, Cal, Miami (USC is outside of the top seven but will continue to recruit Goldman); BAMA & FSU lead
Running Back: Keith Marshall (Raleigh, NC) – UGA leads with UNC, Notre Dame & USC trailing; if UGA has a tumultuos season then the chase for Marshall gets really interesting
Linebacker: Rapheal Kirby (Stone Mountain, GA) - Miami Commitment; considering USC
Linebacker: Reggie Northrup (Jacksonville, FL) - Miami commitment; considering USC
Running Back: Jela Duncan (Charlotte, NC) - favors Duke University but if USC offers, Carolina can really become a factor.

South Carolina continues to ramp up its recruiting efforts as it enjoys more and more success on the field. It is very rare in past recruiting cycles for USC to go out-of-state and win head-to-head battles with upper tier SEC powers in those traditional powers’ backyards (i.e. UGA & UF). Carolina has also turned the tide versus Clemson in regards to in-state recruiting were USC has signed the last three #1 rated SC player (Gilmore, Lattimore and Clowney) and has a commitment from 2012’s top in-state prospect, Shaq Roland of Lexington, SC. As you can see, the caliber of athlete that Carolina is recruiting is raising the bar of expectations on the field. The only way to win in the SEC is with “jimmy‘s & joe’s” and the depth chart’s DNA is significantly being upgraded across the board.
Tomorrow I will have my preseason Top 25 and USC’s 2011 forecast.

Go Gamecocks!