Gamecocks had 'productive' recruiting trips during bye week

This week was big for South Carolina the football team, getting three practices to try and correct some mistakes without an opponent to play on Saturday, but it was also big for the coaching staff seeing future Gamecocks.

Since the Gamecocks were on a bye, it gave the coaching staff a few extra days to get on the road recruiting during the season with meetings going well.

“We had some really productive days,” Will Muschamp said. “Monday the entire staff, including myself, was out and again on Friday. We had a couple guys (to see) and we watched some games on Thursday as well. It was very productive.”

Also see: Full recap of Sunday's teleconference

Muschamp can’t talk specifically about recruits until they sign their national letters of intent, but he did make a few stops to committed players the last few days with the Gamecocks having a lighter than usual week of practice.

The Gamecocks currently have 18 players committed in their 2020 class, five of which are four-star prospects, which means there’s right around five spots left in this year’s cycle.

Right now the class is currently ranked No. 21 nationally and ninth in the SEC behind LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, Texas A&M, Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

They still have a few players considering South Carolina left to decide, but Muschamp likes where things are right now.

“I’m very pleased with where we are recruiting-wise,” Muschamp said. “I’m really pleased with the class. We have to finish well. We have several spots left there and have to continue to drill down on our needs. I really like where we are at this time.”

Also see: Examining PFF grades at the bye week

Muschamp was also asked on his Sunday teleconference about recruiting against Clemson and Georgia, which are both top five teams and have top 10 recruiting classes currently and said recruiting against those two schools in the same area doesn’t affect how the team handles its business.

“Recruiting’s hard all the time regardless of where you are and the situation you’re in,” he said. “Obviously both of those schools are on really good runs in their history. At the end of the day, recruiting is hard regardless of the situation or circumstance.”

The Gamecocks (2-3, 1-2 SEC) are back off the bye this week and travel to Athens for a game against the Bulldogs, which is scheduled for noon on Saturday.

They’ll have six more games straight before another bye week after the Texas A&M game and before hosting Clemson.

Also see: Insider notes on Friday's baseball scrimmage

During the bye week, Muschamp said the plan is similar to this one where the coaches will spend a lot of time recruiting about a month before the December signing period starts.