Everything Joe DeCamillis said ahead of South Carolina's matchup with Coastal Carolina

South Carolina special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis spoke to the media on Wednesday ahead of the team’s Week 13 matchup against Coastal Carolina, which is set to kick off at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday. Here’s everything he had to say.

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You have a couple of senior starters in William (Joyce) and Cole (Rasmussen). Do you start, not really holding auditions, but counting in your mind for next year about, ‘This is who I might be looking at to take over once those guys are gone?’

“I would say, to a certain extent, you already have been doing that in practice. Like, Max (Kelley) has been taking reps in practice; so has Kyler (Farrow). So, we’ve been evaluating those guys.

“People will say, ‘Well, let’s go get ready for next year.’ I don’t think that’s how you do things, in my opinion. I think you got to finish out things the right way. People say that these games don’t matter. I totally disagree, from the standpoint of, my father-in-law used to say, ‘If they keep score, it matters.’ You’re playing tiddlywinks, it matters; you’re playing checkers, it matters. You’re playing whatever, it matters. So, I think that’s really what our mindset needs to be going to these last two games.”

When there’s such a stark difference between the first and second halves like there was on Saturday, how do you, as coaches, try to get the players to see that there were some good moments, but also something to learn from the lesser ones?

“Yeah, you really just have to… I think, guys that are up and down a lot, when you see coaches that go here and here and here and here, I think that’s sometimes a little dangerous. So, to me, the way I handle it is, I try to be the same throughout the game. Obviously, you’re gonna have some times where you’re emotional, and all that kind of stuff. But I think the players, hopefully, get into that, too, where they end up understanding, ‘Hey, man, let’s try to keep this thing riding the right way.’

“Now, did it work? No, it did not work, obviously, because, when you have a deal like that that happens, everybody’s at fault in that situation. So, I think you just really have to continue to fight the fight throughout the whole thing.

“Somebody asked me, ‘Have you ever been through something like that?’ Yeah, I’ve been through one like that. It stinks, no question. But I’ve been on the other side of them, too, where, we’re in a playoff game against the Houston Oilers, and we have no business winning the game. It’s 24-0 in the first half. No clue how we’re going to win. And we came back and won it. So, it’s ball, man. I mean, they used to be able to say this in the NFL and not in college, but they get paid, too. So, I mean, that’s just how it is.”

Last week, Texas A&M missed a couple of field goals, both from the left hash with a little right-to-left breeze, in the first half. How much do special teams coordinators and head coaches put into, ‘Hey, we need to get this kicker to this hash mark or to that hash mark for a field goal? How much does that play into play calling?

“Yeah, we talked about it before the game because that was really… I mean, since I’ve been here, anyway, that’s the first windy game that I’ve been a part of. Like, there were gusts that were 23 to 24 miles an hour. Mason (Love), I would think he would tell you he did not have his best game. I think that was a struggle. And then, from the field goal standpoint, William did an unbelievable job of staying true to his form and doing a great job of really striking them as much as he could.

“But, no question, that stuff goes into it. You have to talk throughout. Shane (Beamer) knew going in what hash we liked if it was a game-winner, what hash we liked if it was into the half, all those types of things. So, he knew that going in. But it was definitely significant, as far as the wind goes that day.”

There was a fourth-and-one play in the second half where you called a timeout before what would have been a 47-yard field goal, right on the cusp of William Joyce’s range. What was that discussion like? And then, how much did the wind play into what you decided to do?

“Not really. You’d have to ask Shane that, as far as what the play call was, and all that kind of stuff. I think the fourth-and-one was, you felt like you can make the one yard. And now, you really have a chance to get things going in the right direction, trying to get a touchdown right there. So, it was not said, ‘I don’t think he can hit that field goal,’ if that’s what you’re asking. He was in a good rhythm, and we felt good about it, for sure.”

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