Injuries have plagued the South Carolina quarterback competition this spring, bringing early enrollee Brandon McIlwain to the forefront. However, coach Will Muschamp has decided to stray from the conventional path, abolishing the position of quarterback altogether.
"Starting with the spring game, we will not run offensive plays," Muschamp said. "I have a lot of faith in Sean Kelly and our defense, so we will punt on first down and rely on non-offensive touchdowns."
With the uncertainty under center and the Gamecocks' struggles on offense last season coupled with Muschamp's inept offenses at Florida, it's hard to fault Muschamp for his decision. He plans to focus on training his kickoff returners to create instant offense, hoping that Deebo Samuel and company can get to the end zone or at least reach Elliott Fry's field goal range.
"If we control field position long enough, we can capitalize on a mistake to get us a score," Muschamp explained. "The risk of turning the ball over and giving the other team a short field is too great to risk running plays on offense."
Muschamp had plenty of playmakers on his Florida defenses, which inspired his new idea. As the former Gator coach, he saw his stars make game-changing plays, including Jelani Jenkins' game-winning blocked punt return to top Louisiana-Lafayette in 2013. Muschamp told reporters that he expects the South Carolina defense to bend but not break if they are given favorable field position, which will create opportunities for home-run plays through turnovers and punt returns.
"Expect a lot of low-scoring contests in Columbia this year," Muschamp said. "We might even score fewer points than we did last season."
It's no secret that South Carolina struggled to put points on the board last fall, but the coaching staff figures the team's offense can't be criticized if they don't field an offense at all.
"I heard all the criticism when Will appointed me to his staff," co-offensive coordinator Kurt Roper said. "I'm tired of being torn down by the media, so I just got rid of the offense completely."
The lack of an offense begs the question: What will become of the team's offensive players and coaches?
"I'm pretty much going to get paid to do nothing," Roper said. "I'll still watch film of other teams on defense, but I don't have any players to work with during practice."
"We've been showing up late to practice a lot. Just messing around with the guys, doing some light workouts," quarterback Perry Orth added. "I've been trying to switch onto the defense, but the coaches are pretty resistant."
Despite its unconventional nature, players on both sides of the ball seem to be in favor of the idea, as defensive players will receive additional exposure for NFL scouts, while the offensive players get to keep their scholarships to do essentially nothing on the football field. Muschamp is simply ecstatic, for he gets to focus all of his energy on his strongest facet of the game: Defense.