Everything South Carolina's Mike Shula said previewing Vanderbilt

South Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Shula spoke with the media on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the Gamecocks’ SEC opener. South Carolina kicks off against Vanderbilt at 7:45 p.m. on the SEC Network.

Here is everything he had to say previewing the Commodores.

Get GamecockCentral for $1 your first week. As a bonus, your membership includes a complimentary year of The Athletic.

After two weeks, what do you think is the biggest issue toward getting the run game on track to where it needs to be?

“Yeah, I think it’s kind of like a little bit with everything. You know, just got to be more consistent. Continue working on being on the same page. And that’s not just communicating, but you know, all the little things that you do in the run game with offensive linemen on double teams, when to come off onto a backer, the quickness of reacting to certain things.

“So, our guys are working really hard. They’re doing a good job. We’re getting better. We’re not quite where we want to be, but all that ties into not just the run game, (it) just ties into doing things that keep us on the field. We’ve got to get on the field more, stay on the field, and make first downs and give ourselves some opportunities.”

With pre-snap penalties, could you give us an idea of how frustrating those can be just in the moment when they’re kind of setting you back like that?

“Yeah, I mean, it’s hard. We have to be focused, all that kind of stuff. We’ve got to do a really good job there. And they are they are focused. They practice hard in that way. And you know, it’s unfortunate you can’t do it. You’ve got to keep your poise. You’ve got to keep your concentration, stay locked in. The pre-snap ones are the things that you can control, and you can’t do that on offense. You don’t want to have any, but keep them down because those are negative plays and end up having to overcome those.”

Mike, seeing what Vicari Swain has done on punt return, is there any part of you knowing that he’s played offense in the past that you maybe want him out there on your side of the ball and have there been any discussions maybe about that potentially?

“I’ve been teasing him since I first got here, watching him, and he’s got great ball skills. It’s really cool to watch. Offensively, you know, we’re getting ready to go out there on the field to go try to do our thing and make first downs and go score, and then all of a sudden you see the ball get returned for a touchdown.

“And he’s really, you know, just this is as an outsider, so to speak, because I coach on offense, but just kind of watching him and watching his maturity and his development since I’ve been here. And to see his hard work pay off has been pretty cool. He’s very talented and, like you said, he’s got some skills that he could use on offense, but no, defense loves him and uh we’re happy that he’s playing where he is on defense and special teams.”

Hey, Mike. Yesterday Boaz (Stanley) was in here talking about how communication was being worked on a lot with the offensive line. In your eyes, what makes a good offensive line in today’s college game?

“Well, communication’s one. As we’ve all heard you over the years, yes, communication and talent and toughness and the ability to finish on every play, make adjustments. I think, as we all know, the offensive line, a lot of times, the only time their name comes up is when negative things happen.

“And yet, so we as coaches, I think you know as fans and stuff like that, sometimes overlook, not sometimes we do overlook a lot of the good things that’s going on, and we see it every day in practice, and today was another good example of guys are just really working hard. We just got to continue to work hard and have that happen on game day more than it’s been, more than we’ve had have happened.”

Hey, coach, it was reported this week that LaNorris (Sellers) came to you and asked for more quarterback run calls for him, maybe up to 15 a game. Have you guys talked directly about that? Uh, is that something that will be happening?

“Yeah, we talk a lot every week about what his job is and how we do it and how we’re going to best win games.”

How would you evaluate through two games how LaNorris is going through his progressions?

“Well, yeah, it’s just a little bit like all of us, you know. Just continue to get better; it’s not perfect. A Perfect game is still out there. And he’s like a lot of the other guys that, we just left the practice field, you know, just working hard to get better and dialing in on the things that he needs to continue to improve on.

“You know, we talked in the past about quarterback play and making sure the communication there is great, and you know what to look for and then reacting accordingly.”

Vanderbilt seemed to be pretty blitz happy against Virginia Tech, and they were creating a lot of havoc last Saturday night. How do you kind of prepare your offensive line and your offense for that type of aggressive defense?

“Yeah, they do a really good job of in a lot of areas when they’re blitzing. They’re really good blitzers. They do a good job of showing blitz and then faking the blitz. They do a good job of (it), whether or not it’s bringing a bunch of blitzers or just bringing one. And you know, in college football, there are a lot of ways you can blitz and play zone behind it. You know, we’ve all heard the term fire zone and all that kind of stuff.

“So, they do a good job with that. Then blitz and play man, but even more so than that, they’re well coached, and they fly to the ball, and they’re very disciplined. So, they don’t make a lot of mistakes. So, you’re going to have to earn everything you get on Saturday night.”

Following up on the LaNorris processing stuff, how much of it is him just trusting what he’s seeing and letting it rip?

“Again, it’s offensive football. So, it’s collectively each guy doing their job. You know, the offensive line as we’ve been talking about them. Yeah. Let’s do a good job with protection. Receivers, let’s get to the spot where we need to be at. Let’s make the right adjustment. LaNorris, make sure we see the right adjustment. Running backs, let’s make sure we’re in the right spot, or we’re helping out with protection. Tight ends, same thing there, whether or not we’re running routes or protecting or run blocking.

“And it all ties together. So, yes, the quarterback is the one who gets the most questions asked about and has the ball in his hands for good reason. But he’s continued to improve in that way, and the other guys have too. And again, we just got to kind of pull it all in together and stay on the field, you know, get some first downs going and get some rhythm better than we’ve done.”

Mike, when you guys, as an offensive staff, are putting together the game plan, how do the meetings work? Is it a roundtable thing? Everybody submits ideas? Do you talk one-on-one with the different coaches’ position groups? Just how does that plan come together?

“Yes, all that. Yeah, we have really good staff. Our guys do a really good job. We’ve got guys, you know, um that are kind of more run-oriented and they spend a little more time in the running game, and then we have guys in the pass area that are more pass, and then we all come together and talk, and then there’s individual conversations.

“So yeah, it’s a really good group. They’re fun to be around. They’re really hard. They coach really hard, they love their players. They get on them, but I think that all our players would say they know that our coaches, you know, love them and have their backs, and we all want to get the best out of each other. And uh, it’s kind of fun getting up every morning and you know starting that meeting with that 7:30 a.m. offensive staff meeting and getting ready for the day.”

When you look at quarterback stats, are you someone who is all about ‘I want no interceptions,’ Or is there a world where you can say, ‘Hey, an interception might be good because that shows that you’re throwing the ball into tighter coverages sometimes.’

“Yeah. I mean, I really don’t look at it in regard to statistics. No, I mean, but in just as far as hey, you know, are we making the right decision on that play? Now, you’re going to have interceptions, but hopefully there’re not very many. And if they do, it’s not because you’re making a dangerous throw and you’re forcing the ball or what have you.

“But, no, we talk more about, ‘Hey, you know, did you make the right decision on that play?’ And then if you made the right decision, physically and mechanically, fundamentally, how were you? Did you get the ball there on time? Were you accurate? You know, how were you in a good fundamental position to make the throw? Things like that.”

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!