quozzel

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kinda thought Muschamp had his psychology all wrong...

Nov 27, 2016, 1:24 PM

LONG POST WARNING...LOTTA WORDS. Bail out NOW if you're a Tweeter.

This prior week I was eyeballing the tweeting and smack-talk and chirping coming out of Cola and I thought Will Muschamp was kind of at the root of it. The Gamecock players have had themselves a little mini-renaissance the last half of the season, pulled some upsets over struggling teams, beat some weaker squads like UMass and Western Carolina. And it seemed they were being told: "Clemson is just another team."

I thought this was just about the worst idea possible. I also think this is why Muschamp just isn't a good gameday coach. He just really didn't know.

He didn't realize, I think, just how wide the talent gap really was between Clemson and Carolina. He didn't realize, I think, just how young that team he had really is. He certainly didn't seem to realize that going into Death Valley, at night, against a Clemson team that has scarcely seen the light of day this season because every game we've played has basically been a primetime night-game matchup against somebody really good, was going to be a very...different sort of experience for his team and players. Clemson, as a team, as a program, as a fan base, just exists right now at an entirely different level of pressure and expectation and intensity than South Carolina has this year. They might as well have been playing two-handed touch with a Nerf football this year, for as prepared as they seemed.

His team just wasn't prepared, mentally, and it showed. As a coach you've got to let your team know what they're walking into. You've got to tell them: Guys, this is going to be something you fellas just haven't faced before. This venue is going to be insane; this team is better than anybody you've faced, and you're likely going to lose...and I don't care. I just want you to fight them for 60 minutes. Because nobody really expected South Carolina to beat Clemson - nobody realistic, anyhow. But they could have made a very strong statement if they'd just brought a stick-in-your-grill mentality and some humility.

Instead he tried to make this just another game, tried to portray Clemson as "just another team" instead of the elite playoff contender we are. His babies walked into Clemson with unrealistic expectations...and duly got run flat over. And that's going to linger. Jake Bentley got absolutely shelled last night, and I would not have liked that stunned, sick look on his face before they finally pulled him if I was a Carolina fan. Several of his corners caught fire and looked extra-crispy - that #7 CB, Jamarcus King (the pride of their last recruiting class, their former top-ranked recruit and the #1-ranked JUCO corner in the country) looked particularly shell-shocked on the sideline, especially after Mike Williams' third TD catch - and his OL and DL just got physically beat down.

Then The Champ doubled down again afterwards. Asked what he was going to do about it he said: "Well, the solution is I've gotta go out recruiting. We've gotta get better players, simple as that."

Uhm, no, Will. Bad move there too - because you just told your current players that the solution is, you have to replace them? Way to prop them up after a bad, bad loss. Dude: even if it's 100% true (maybe especially if it's true!) you don't say that. Ever. Do you not realize what message you just sent?

Apparently not.

I'm definitely starting to see why The Champ messed it up so bad at UF. Good coaches seem to understand the mentality of their players, the psychology of their locker room...and that's where Muschamp just seems to miss on this whole "leadership" thing.

Nobody was expecting Will Muschamp to win that game. But he needed to lead them through it, find the coachable moments, use that game to spur and elevate his very young team.

Instead he got them shelled...and then told them he was going to replace them.

Oh, and he doubled down on the ill will as well. Instead of acknowledging that they got outplayed and crushed by a better team, the Gamecock players instead came out whining about BS "racial slurs" and how "they would remember" that the Clemson seniors were taking soccer-style ovations at the end of the game. Bitter whining, in other words.

What they should remember is just how unprepared they were, how poor their mentality was, and how their failure to respect their opponent and adjust to the speed and intensity of the game got them crushed in one-sided, utterly humiliating fashion. That's how you get better.

You don't want Clemson's seniors to go out to ovations? Make them stay in the game by actually competing with them next time.

Muschamp might be a good X's and O's guy. He might even be a good recruiter. But as a gameday coach, he's coming across a whole lot like Scott Shafer...and I suspect his tenure will turn out...similarly.

Not impressed, Will.

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I agree about his post game statements....

Then The Champ doubled down again afterwards. Asked what he was going to do about it he said: "Well, the solution is I've gotta go out recruiting. We've gotta get better players, simple as that."

Uhm, no, Will. Bad move there too - because you just told your current players that the solution is, you have to replace them? Way to prop them up after a bad, bad loss. Dude: even if it's 100% true (maybe especially if it's true!) you don't say that. Ever. Do you not realize what message you just sent?

I thought that was very disrespectful to his current team. He just told his current team that they were sub-par and lacked talent and that he needed to go hit the recruiting trail to find replacements that are better players.

I also am tired of hearing about how 68% or whatever percentage of his team is comprised of freshmen and Sophomores. So what? Many teams have a ton of underclassmen but most of them don't play because they are still learning the system and are trying to win starting jobs over guys who have previously earned starting positions. Having a team filled with Freshmen and sophomore starters is not a good thing unless those young guys are truly great athletes. (see Big Dex, Wilkins, etc.) That just means you are grasping at straws trying to find something that works. (see pulling Bentley's redshirt after game 6)

I don't see the talent gap closing any time soon!

kinda thought Muschamp had his psychology all wrong...

"Q"..you nailed it again, with big heavy sledge hammer!

spurs up lol***

Great post!***

Nice Q, exactly what I was thinking, just much more

Re: kinda thought Muschamp had his psychology all wrong...

Dead on post... +1.***

Re: kinda thought Muschamp had his psychology all wrong...

Re: kinda thought Muschamp had his psychology all wrong...

Great read, thank you***

Man, you dissect the psychology of football like nobodies business

Very nice***

spot-on analysis

#SpursUp, #ForevertoThee

So accurate

Best post I've ever read here.

He definitely did the same thing to the fan base

Clemson is "just another team" in the same way that

Re: kinda thought Muschamp had his psychology all wrong...

Crump, let's get this guy writing analysis instead of Mackey***

PLEASE +100***

New ACC Commissioner Quozzel

Re: kinda thought Muschamp had his psychology all wrong...

Re: kinda thought Muschamp had his psychology all wrong...

Re: kinda thought Muschamp had his psychology all wrong...

EloQuent Post. +1

yeah buddy

It's too bad Coot Nation lacks so in their reading and

D@mn that's excellent. Thanks for the read sir! *******

Oh, they knew what they were walking into...

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