UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL

University of South Carolina head football coach Will Muschamp answered questions during the Aug. 2 Media Day.

How to prepare for each upcoming team early in the season during camp:

“Well we spend our offseason studying opponents. We take about two days, start from backward to forward, and work on opponents back in February. As we finish up the cutups from the season, we study ourselves, but we start at the end of February and start of March, April. Then coming into the summer we spend a lot of time studying our opponents, and taking notes on our opponents. We just finished up with Coastal yesterday. So that is something we spend an awful amount of time on, in regards of game planning. As we get into camp, we will not start on Coastal until school starts. We will spend time focusing on South Carolina, and focusing on ourselves. That was one of the big things I talked to the guys about in the meeting today is that it is not about any opponents right now, it is about South Carolina and us getting better and improving every day.”

On preaching ‘you haven’t accomplished anything yet’ and how it affects team:

“Well I don’t know that, I just think, some people can call it negative, but I call it being realistic. It is where we are. We want to win the east and win our state every year, that is our goal for our program from year one to year three, and we haven’t done that yet.”

On what the process is like, and what the timetable is with Josh Belk:

“Again I think, obviously, they have been very much more lenient with the transfer situation, so I think Josh has a very good case for that. Chance Miller and our compliance office is working diligently to get that waiver request to the NCAA and there is no timetable.”

On moving Zack Bailey over to left guard and what to expect from him:

“Well I think Blake (Camper) has really changed his body since he has been here, over the last year. When Zack was injured last year, and I think he played very well at the right tackle position, so he earned the opportunity. Zack played well at the right tackle position. We were not as pleased at all, but it is all about getting your best five on the field. Zack, we felt going back and looking at it, was a more productive guard on the inside in regards to movement and things to continue to try and get more surge on the line of scrimmage. To get our best five on the field right now, that is where he needs to be. He will also be a center as well, a backup center.”

On if he has seen any difference in Deebo’s attitude since coming off injury:

“No, not really. He has been a guy who has practiced right since I have been here. He goes after it all the time, that’s why he is a good player. God has blessed him with a lot of ability, but one of the abilities that he has been blessed with is work ethic. The guy works extremely hard. I think anytime as an athlete, when the game is taken away from you, maybe personally it means a little bit more to you, but his work ethic has always been outstanding so I don’t really see a change in that.”

On how he would describe Bryan Mc-Clendon’s personality and if personality goes into playcalling:

“Oh, I think it certainly does. Bryan has a very upbeat and aggressive mentality and I think has done a really good job with our players since he has been here, number one as a receivers coach and changing that group and the production and development in that room has been outstanding. And since he has taken over as coordinator, going all the way back to the bowl game, has done an outstanding job with our players. I would describe him as a more up-tempo mindset.”

On advantage of playing young guys early

“Well we didn’t have any choice the first year. So it was, what it was. I think as much as anything it is really good examples right in front of them, as far as leadership is concerned and work ethic and how to practice the right way. And understanding that process is really important for a young player. So when you have a young offensive linemen and they see the way Donell Stanley and our offensive linemen go about their work ethic and a young defensive lineman looks at Dennis Daley and our defensive linemen and the way they practice, I think that is really, really important and a great example for a young player.”

Read more from Muschamp’s interview at https://gamecocksonline.com/news/2018/8/2/football-media-day-quotes-videos.aspx?path=football .