People that think the sky is falling and our coaches are awful at their jobs:

[gripitandripit2007]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

If USC finishes with Skai Moore, this class is money. Do you guys realize that we have THREE instate commitments? You know how many instate kids we offered? 7. (Park, King, Turner, Williams, Terry, Hill, Durant). That tells you all you need to know about the state this year. The fact that USC put together a probable Top 15 class built almost solely on out of state talent, is borderline amazing.

For reference, you know how many instate offers USC has out for 2014? 12. And the evaluation period hasn't even started.

They've already offered 4 for 2015.

Soak it in.

EASILY one of the top 5 posts of the year....if not the best! Well said C2!! Our coaches know what they are doing...we just need to continue to trust them and watch and wait to see the best of Gamecock football continue to roll in!

[JT21]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

Agree with the 2nd part, disagree completely with the 1st part. If you were talking about an instate kid, I would say absolutely but Ngakoue and Senat are players in those respective school's backyard. Any school is going to have an uphill battle on their hands if the recruit entertains the idea of staying home and playing in front of family. Its rare you get a kid that is dead set on going out of state.

Especially when SC is jumping in relatively late on these guys.

Look at the case of Senat- at least based on what is reported by TBS/GCC and the like, SC didn't start pushing for this guy until roughly a month ago. Can't expect Carolina to immediately gain an edge over schools that have been recruiting him hard for months, regardless of how much 'better' we think the situation and program at SC may be.

[hellraiser24]

Originally Posted by cofcgamecock9

smh, The same posters that freak out about recruiting are the exact sames one that freak out when a player gets in trouble. They are the same ones that freak out if a coach leaves. They are the same ones that freak out after a loss.

They do want you to help them "feel better" about anything because then what would they do? They are happy being miserable if that makes any sense.

So nothing you say or do is going to change their perception. If four five stars committed to us today out of left field and we ended up being ranked in the top 5 in the country in recruiting, they would just shift their focus on to something else to be negative about. Williams Brice would suck and it would mean that our whole program is going down the tubes because their is too much concrete.

They are glass half empty people, always wanting to be negative about something.

[35-21]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

Guys, we have TWO LOIs to give out. It's not the end of the world if they are carried over to 2014.

This. In fact, with the below average overall level of in-state talent this year, combined with what looks to be one of the best crop of rising seniors in a long time in South Carolina, I think we would do well to undersign as much as we can stand this year. Additionally, when you factor in the scholarship reductions we will be dealing with starting this year, this is the best thing for us as a program in the long term.

[35-21]

Originally Posted by trapper82

I have long said that Matt Rolin can do whatever he really wanted to do, but to say he was neglected by the staff when he is from Virginia and the team Doctor for USC ended up doing the surgery is a little silly. Yes, his insurance paid for it, and yes, that doctor has a private practice. But there is a reason Matt Rolin went to him.

The fact that his parents are really good friends with the guy probably wasn't that reason.

[CarolinaSpur12]

6th best in the SEC, 6th best in recruiting. Correlates pretty well.

[trapper82]

Originally Posted by CarolinaSpur12

6th best in the SEC, 6th best in recruiting. Correlates pretty well.

Who is the number 2 team in the SEC?

[LegalCock]

Gotta' go with LSWHO.

[CarolinaSpur12]

The Gamecocks recruit well, but they do not recruit up to par with the big boys. We have been lucky to get some program changers here recently. Latti and Clowney are program changers. The thing that I feel separates us and the top tier teams, they recruit the program changers every year. We don't seem to have that fortune. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

[ReadR00ster]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

If USC finishes with Skai Moore, this class is money. Do you guys realize that we have THREE instate commitments? You know how many instate kids we offered? 7. (Park, King, Turner, Williams, Terry, Hill, Durant). That tells you all you need to know about the state this year. The fact that USC put together a probable Top 15 class built almost solely on out of state talent, is borderline amazing.

For reference, you know how many instate offers USC has out for 2014? 12. And the evaluation period hasn't even started.

They've already offered 4 for 2015.

Soak it in.

Yeah, we didn't do very well in-state. We need to improve there.

[ReadR00ster]

Originally Posted by hellraiser24

They are glass half empty people, always wanting to be negative about something.

And there there are "glass-half full people" who act like everything is perfectly fine and dandy no matter what.

[EveryThingGreen]

Originally Posted by ReadR00ster

Yeah, we didn't do very well in-state. We need to improve there.

like landing the previous 4 South Carolina Mr. Football?

The state was weak in talent this year.

[CoverTwo]

Originally Posted by ReadR00ster

Yeah, we didn't do very well in-state. We need to improve there.

I'm taking this as you being sarcastic.

There wasn't anybody instate this year. They offered 7 (with 1 being a nonqualifier who they would LOVE to place) and got 3. 50% isn't bad at all.

The ones that sting are Terry and Williams because they wanted 1 receiver this go round.

Hill's dream school was Ohio State. Nothing you can do about that. Once he got that offer, it was all over. It happens.

Terry grew up a Georgia fan. Also had family pushing him there. He was close friends with the UGA QB commit Bryce Ramsey. USC could've possibly gotten back into the game later in his recruitment, like Clemson did, but the staff gave him the 'you have to decommit before you can visit again'. Basically both parties parted ways for the better. Even Terry mentioned this in a interview. He said there weren't any hard feelings between him and USC.

Williams is the one that is puzzling. This should've been the receiver for the class. Somebody, IMO, dropped the ball here.

[SwimCock]

We have a max of 5 LOIs left. We have 20 total commitments including Mitch and park who were early entrants and did not sign LOIs (they just enrolled), which leaves 18. From the 18, you can subtract Vickers who does not need to sign an LOI as he is a prep school placement, leaving 17 net. We are allowed a max of 22, which means that we have 5 LOIs remaining (22-17). If Ronnie Martin did not sign an LOI, but i think he did during the JUCO early signing period, then we could have 1 additional LOI remaining.

[SwimCock]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

If USC finishes with Skai Moore, this class is money. Do you guys realize that we have THREE instate commitments? You know how many instate kids we offered? 7. (Park, King, Turner, Williams, Terry, Hill, Durant). That tells you all you need to know about the state this year. The fact that USC put together a probable Top 15 class built almost solely on out of state talent, is borderline amazing.

For reference, you know how many instate offers USC has out for 2014? 12. And the evaluation period hasn't even started.

They've already offered 4 for 2015.

Soak it in.

Excellent and meaningful post. Remember that we are expected to place Durant at prep or JUCO, so he can effectively either be eliminated from the 7 in-state offers or counted as a USC "lean." That would mean that we batted about .500 in state which is good since we had little shot at Terry or Hill. I agree that Williams is the "head scratcher" of the in-state group but he may very well end up like Jaron Brown and Charone Peake who got very little PT after not committing to The USC.

[ReadR00ster]

Originally Posted by SwimCock

We have a max of 5 LOIs left. We have 20 total commitments including Mitch and park who were early entrants and did not sign LOIs (they just enrolled), which leaves 18. From the 18, you can subtract Vickers who does not need to sign an LOI as he is a prep school placement, leaving 17 net. We are allowed a max of 22, which means that we have 5 LOIs remaining (22-17). If Ronnie Martin did not sign an LOI, but i think he did during the JUCO early signing period, then we could have 1 additional LOI remaining.

s
We would be alright to leave a few spots for next year, because we can only have 82 players on scholarship because of our self imposed sanctions. But we still could use a couple of solid linebackers and a strongside DE, maybe another DT and another CB. The fans just want to see us close the recruiting season strong. They don't want it be over when other teams are all scrambling for big recruits at the last second.

[Goofyboy]

The Gamecocks recruit well, but they do not recruit up to par with the big boys. We have been lucky to get some program changers here recently. Latti and Clowney are program changers. The thing that I feel separates us and the top tier teams, they recruit the program changers every year. We don't seem to have that fortune. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Gotta disagree in an odd way. We are recruiting program changers by getting "trench" players that make our program better by pushing hard to develop while not being markee players. Bringing in multiples at OL, resting at WR when we've got needs filled, getting early commits at LB to meet needs - all bring the level of the team up regardless of star status. Signing players with development options like Rainey at TE to linebacker, D Johnson, Turner, D Washington give us the opportunity to develop strong athletes into key players without betting on some 5-star who isn't all that commited to making a difference here and may not help team chemistry. Lattimore's character/talent combination kinda spoiled us, and Clowney seems to have gotten (likely from family, team members, and coaches) that his sweetest future lies in being a coachable, team-oriented, excellence-focused player rather that a talent-laden prima donna. The team culture seems to be a key focus of the coaching staff, and that, in my view has been a great platform on which the star players could develop and shine, but also the other players of differing abilities can use to go very far in reaching their goals as well.

[cofcgamecock9]

Originally Posted by ReadR00ster

And there there are "glass-half full people" who act like everything is perfectly fine and dandy no matter what.

This is the part of your post that is wrong..... The "no matter what."

The "no matter what" about SC right now is that the team is 22-4 in the last two seasons. The "no matter what" is that the program is consistently improving. The "no matter" what is that, right now, every senior class that finishes SC is the winningest senior class in the team's history. In fact, I will make a bet with you right now. I will bet whatever amount you want to bet. I bet next year's senior class is, once again, the winningest class in school history.

I am sorry man, but the glass half empty crap right now is just pathetic. And, unfortunately, nothing is going to change it for you and others on this board who just choose to be negative. I don't care if we do win a SEC Championship, National Championship, or whatever. You are still going to be negative 95% of the time and that is just sad when our program is reaching new heights every single year. But for some reason, it seems to be in your DNA.

Now, you are going to say "well I expect more" and you are just "sunshine pumpers," like you did in the post above. I call Bullsh#t.

If I have a sales rep that spent years as one of the worst sales reps in the nation and then decides to get his act together and is consistently moving his way up the ranks year after year, don't tell me that I am managing him wrong if I say "well, you have improved from last to tenth in the company, but you are still tenth so you suck and I am going to berate the hell out of you until you are first." That doesn't work and if you think it does, then I hate to burst your bubble because it doesn't.

But when you post something and say "no matter what" don't act like the rest of us should be ashamed for being positive about the program. When the program starts going backwards then you tell us we should be more negative.

[badfish17]

Everything is just fine, we will get the recruits we need to fill our holes and we will coach them to perform as needed. We are currently #16 in Rivals with one or two guys to add. Looking at our depth chart we don't have a ton of holes or any reason panic. Gamecock Football is in great shape and continuously reaching new highs.

[b381l]

Originally Posted by Garnet girl

My husband said there is a link on Gamecock Central that leads to the story about Matt Rolin. He felt neglected by our staff after he hurt his knee. Florida cuddled him more. I guess our staff felt he was committed to us. Kids think strange things. Some guys are very needy. I guess we don't cuddle enough for some guys.
When I look at next year I see more talent here.

If that's true and I have no doubt it is, then he would never have made it here.
We aren't running a baby sitting service...we're looking to take boys and make men out of them. If they don't like the process, I would suggest badmitten.