Recap: South Carolina coordinator availability: Florida
South Carolina held its final media availability of the week with all three coordinators–Dowell Loggains, Clayton White and Pete Lembo–previewing this week’s matchup against Florida.
Here’s a recap of what they had to say before Saturday’s game.
Dowell Loggains
–Asked about throws short of the sticks, said sometimes the philosophy is trying to get the ball out quick to avoid a quarterback hit. That goes back to protection or teams blitzing. Talking specifically about Tennessee it’s more of a protection thing.
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–Evaluating the run game, said they watched every inefficient run. Jokes it was a “horrible bye week.” They haven’t been great in early downs and put in third down and long. A lot of the problem is inefficient runs early on first/second down. You have to fix some things with the assets you have right now. Said there will be changes in “multiple areas” moving forward. It’s not an overnight fix. They have to coach better, players have to play better and have to tweak things schematically. You have to know why it’s happening. Sometimes it’s just work and a process. As a staff, you have to do your best job to know why it’s happening.
–The biggest thing in playing freshmen is seeing what they’re capable of but knowing what they can handle too. There’s a guy who does what he’s supposed to but he’s “just good enough to get you beat.” Then there are guys who have some serious upside but knows there will be some bumps in the road and you have to live with it cause they’ll be better for it. Long term, it’s what’s best for the team because it’s based on potential.
–Bye weeks are great to kind of evaluate things. Said they’re 2-3 no matter how you want to spin it and that’s frustrating. They’d love to have Juice Wells out there but they don’t. That’s why they spent the bye week trying to figure out what they can do to get better. As a staff, you have to look in the mirror and ask if what they’re doing is right or if are they doing what they want to do. They do some things well (throwing the ball, red zone offense) but have to clean up the run game and protection. The vision of what they want is irrelevant.
–Said the biggest thing he’s noticed now in how teams defend them is lightening the box and forcing South Carolina to run while taking away Xavier Legette and Spencer Rattler.
–Mentions he’ll let Shane Beamer talk about the Gamecocks’ personnel tweaks but mentions every day is an interview and guys have to prove in practice they’re ready to play in a game. They’re not afraid to play freshmen if they’re ready to play.
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–Talking about running the ball, said it’s not going to be overnight. It’s 11 guys, not just the back or not just the offensive line. All 11 guys have to play better, more “fundamentally sound” football.
–Asked about a short-yardage running back, mentions they didn’t scheme Juju McDowell for that third down play. South Carolina called tempo and McDowell was in the game.
Clayton White
–Ready to get back at it and preparing against Florida. Guys are still “in love with the process” and they have seven games left.
–Asked about generating more tackles for loss, said they missed some tackles and missed some layups when they were there. Have to make sure he’s calling things the right way and guys making plays. Said he tried to be aggressive against Tennessee one time and that backfired.
–Have to be more consistent in the run game. You can’t have 37 good run fits and four bad ones. That’s how you end up with a ton of explosive runs against. Sometimes it can feel really bad but they’re not far off. Have to point out the mistakes they’re making sure you’re in a gap and setting the edge. There’s a lot of youth and trying to coach them up. Offenses are smart and are going to try and put those young players in conflict.
–The staff has to keep “coaching the heck” out of technique and being in the right spot. Said they feel like in a lot of spots where those explosives have come it’s one technique thing or one step in the wrong direction that could have prevented a big game.
–Watching film on the bye week, said there was enough of good things there. They stopped the run well enough at times this year. The effort is good and the want-to is there. Said it’s a totally different-looking team this year compared to last year at times in terms of intensity. Said you have to keep developing them.
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–Loves that group of defensive tackles–Hemingway, Sanders and Huntley–and have to keep developing depth. Sanders has been incredibly active. Most coaches have favorite guys and Sanders is up there.
–In the SEC, most offensive linemen are 325 pounds and above. South Carolina put Elijah Davis at end to allowe him to showcase some athleticism. He understands football and has some awareness and likes what Davis can bring at EDGE.
–Florida’s offense makes it really hard to defend cause they do a lot of checks and flows and motions. You have to be on point.
Pete Lembo
–The NCAA doesn’t allow him to say who he went to see but went out to the Midwest to recruit. Jokes there’s always a story that comes out of a recruiting trip. Said they probably don’t talk a lot about the sacrifices coaches/families make. Missed his daughter’s senior night for volleyball and being honored at a game Friday. Because of the lifestyle and commitments you make to what you do, you miss a lot of weddings in the fall. There are conflicts because of that because you’re doing a job you love. So proud of his kids. His kids have “never complained one time.” There’s something to be said about being a coach’s kid.
–Whoever made the statement about the sun setting on the British Empire hasn’t watched SEC football cause they have another Aussie punter to prepare against. The fourth one in a row.
–They have a very dependable punt returner and can get vertical in the punt game. Florid has its second-leading rusher at KO return. They were concerned about him last year. He’s got good vision, gets downhill and has natural running back instincts.
–Re-evaluating special teams in the bye, said it was about looking at depth and finding guys to get some reps to and preserving a redshirt or saying this guy is full speed ahead offensively or defensively and getting the most out of him on special teams. Did some self-scout and what’s been good or bad. They got a ton of younger guys work and shake up some depth potentially. Have to show guys it’s an ongoing competition.
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–Feels like South Carolina has a ton of credibility on the recruiting trail now and the positivity going on with the program and university in general. When they first got here, they were “definitely an unknown.” Said they came in at such a difficult time because they came in and couldn’t go recruit and had a first-time head coach and had a lot of coaches from non-SEC schools. They feel like they had to earn that. There’s been some “good progress” there. Even going to the Northeast and the Mid-Atlatnic people are noticing it. You’re seeing kids too that grow up in Big 10 country have an interest in the SEC. He was talking to a 2025 prospect and that prospect spoke about how he was willing to move for that.
–Working with so many young players, you want to see “days stacked like pancakes.” Lembo wants to see guys build and have some of those base concepts stick. He wants to see that translate to drills on the field or in team period and applying those things on the field and not “going haywire and freelancing.” He wants to see them get to a critical mass where guys are becoming a trustworthy player to put in the actual game.
