Everything Joe DeCamillis said about South Carolina's special teams ahead of Ole Miss matchup

South Carolina special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis spoke to the media on Wednesday ahead of the team’s Week 10 matchup against Ole Miss. Here’s everything he had to say.

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How much input, as a special needs coordinator, do you have on two-point conversion plays when the coaching staff is designing them?

“There’s a book that’s on the sideline that we’re looking at all the time. In fact, that was my job at Texas, one of the things I did for Sark [head coach Steve Sarkisian]. But Coach [Shane Beamer] has the ultimate authority over that. And, obviously, he has his own looks at it. But he definitely takes counsel from others. He definitely is into it as far as the game goes — which is what he should be doing, in my opinion. Those books are always good as data points and information, in my opinion.

“I think there’s a lot of announcers out there right now that, in my opinion, first of all, most of them haven’t coached a day of their life. And they’ve all got an opinion on when you should go for two, when you shouldn’t go for two, all that kind of stuff. I think it’s a joke, in my opinion, because I don’t think they’ve been in that arena. I don’t think they, really, other than talking to other people, that’s how they get their information.

“So, if you’re asking me about that [opting against going for two against Alabama], I think it was a good call. I think he made what he felt like was the best call for us, and you live with it and go from there. I mean, obviously, everybody has the ‘If this, then that.’ It doesn’t work that way in football. You got to make a split decision, and you got to make it quickly. So, I thought it was the right thing he did.

“And again, some of those gurus out there that don’t think it is, tell them to call me. I’d love to have a conversation because I’ve seen those situations for about 40 years now.”

Which decision in the Alabama game are you more mad about people criticizing?

“Everything. I mean, it’s a joke, in my opinion. Like, they got the one guy on the one podcast I saw today that [said we] should have gone for the two to be up there for nine and all this kind of stuff. What do you get that from, dude? Because you read an analytics book, or because you heard that from somebody? I mean, come on, man. That’s not football. And, I mean, I know that guy hasn’t coached a day of his life, right? He’s gone up there in his TV booth and talked about it and all that stuff. That isn’t coaching, dude.”

Can you describe why you don’t like that?

“I didn’t say I didn’t like the nine. I just said that that guy having that opinion and saying what he did is dangerous, in my opinion. Because that’s how people get their opinions, and that’s where you’re getting your opinion from.

“If I’m going to get my opinion… If I was going into surgery, and I knew I was going to have a doctor that was going to cut open my leg, I hope he’s really, really good at what he does. I hope that’s what he does over and over and over, not talking on a damn podcast. So, that’s how I feel about it.”

Former NFL referee Terry McAulay was talking about Nyck Harbor‘s muffed punt recovery. Can you explain the rules on that?

“It’s called ‘shoot and run.’ I can show that clip [on], maybe, 85 plays that I have on my computer right now. And I would like to go back and see the plays that Terry was involved in — because, when I was in the league, he was an official in there, and I’d like to see where he said that guy wasn’t engaged.

“Now, if a guy’s standing by the ball, and he is not doing anything, that’s true; he’s not engaged. But he looked like he was going to make a block, to me, with Nyck, so Nyck did exactly what he’s coached to do and pushed him into it. I mean, that, to me, is crazy. If you don’t want the guy there to get to the guy out of the way, we say, ‘Peter, Peter, Peter,’ and get out of the way. Get out to the sideline if you’re not going to be in there — which, they made a mistake and did that. That gave us a chance to help us win the game.”

Is the book you mentioned before an actual book, or is it a chart that resembles a blackjack sheet?

“There’s a lot of charts that are out there. I know Coach has his own chart that he uses. I know that there’s a place called CAI that a lot of people use in college football. In the NFL, everybody has those same charts. So, yeah, is there a chart? Sure, there’s a chart. Not just, ‘Hey, we pull this out of the air.’ I mean, he’s definitely following something like that, which there is.”

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