Muschamp has implemented 'game changer' upgrades in three years
Will Muschamp’s done a lot since taking over as head coach three seasons ago, but maybe none bigger than starting the New and Creative Media Department.
The group, kick-started almost as soon as Muschamp signed the contract, has garnered national attention with some analysts saying it is the biggest improvement Muschamp’s made so far over his tenure.
“I was so impressed when Coach Muschamp got here because he said, ‘We’re going to emphasize this,”’ SEC Nation analyst Laura Rutledge said. “What do kids do these days? They’re all refreshing Twitter all the time. To have that as an availability and something they can look at and say, ‘I want to play there.”’
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The department is in charge of creating content for social media, specifically videos designed for fan engagement and making a good impression with high school athletes they’re recruiting.
Justin King manages the group of around 10 people designed to create the content fans see every week on the team’s social media accounts which includes the much-anticipated “Battle Armor” videos.
One of the biggest reasons the department was created was to enhance recruiting efforts, and now the work King and his staff do gets national recognition from some of the game’s greats.
“It’s a different recruiting game, it’s a different battle,” Tim Tebow said. “One of the most valuable guys here is Justin King, their video guy. He’s putting together all these videos recruits watch and they love it. It’s a different game getting recruits and what they like.”
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But new media departments aren’t the only things the Gamecocks are trying to upgrade around the football complex.
They’ve already built a brand new indoor facility and construction on the new state-of-the-art football operations building will be finished by the of the year.
Muschamp said before the season the coaching staff has already gotten a “wow factor” from recruits showing off the new amenities, and Tebow said the facilities are day and night better than when he played in Columbia with Florida.
But, it’s all in response to the arms race going on in college football to continue building new and different bells and whistles around a program.
“You have to stay up there and you have to be willing to spend money,” Tebow said. “You want to stay up with what Clemson did up the road and keep up with what Georgia’s doing and Alabama’s doing? You better make changes.”
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Both Tebow and Rutledge, who were in town last week for SEC Nation prior to the Gamecocks’ game against Georgia, have been around the program for years and seen the transformation.
Once Muschamp took over, improvements and changes took off like wildfire after those things weren’t started under former head coach Steve Spurrier.
Rutledge said a lot of what Muschamp’s implemented has been game changing, and says it starts with the athletic department’s committing to improving the program.
“I think you saw a South Carolina—and many fans would agree with me on this—peter out at the end of the Steve Spurrier era,” Rutledge said. “For them to return to prominence like this, it’s a big credit to the buy-in from the athletic department.”
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