When Will Muschamp was hired at South Carolina last December, he had a tall order in front of him. The Gamecocks had just wrapped up a 3-9 campaign and the roster was clearly in need of a significant rebuild. Someone with strong recruiting chops was needed, and few have ever questioned Muschamp's ability to land talent. He brought the staff, the connections, the know-how, and the work ethic in recruiting to get the job done. The question became how soon he would be able to get the ball rolling at a program that had slipped from a top ten contender to a three-win team in two seasons.

As it turns out, it has not taken long to see the fruits of the labor.

With two months to put together the 2016 class, Muschamp did the following:

- Regained a commitment from early enrollee four-star wideout Bryan Edwards, who had opened things up after the coaching change in Columbia. The Gamecocks survived a big push from Clemson and got Edwards, who projects to start as a true freshman, back in the fold.

- Kept four-star quarterback Brandon McIlwain in the fold after his lead recruiter and future position coach departed, giving him a high enough comfort level to set aside potentially $2-$4 million from the MLB Draft. USC also kept running back CJ Freeman in the fold as an early enrollee; Wisconsin made a push for him towards the end of the process.

- Landed big Louisiana defensive tackle Stephon Taylor, who he had recruited at both Florida and Auburn, over offers from FSU and Texas.

- Pulled "de facto" flips for four-star wide receiver Randrecous Davis (USC beat Miami, who had the coach that Davis previously committed to at Georgia in Mark Richt), wide receiver Korey Banks (pulled off a pledge from UNC in favor of the Gamecocks), defensive tackle Aaron Thompson (backed off a pledge to Maryland before committing to USC), local linebacker TJ Brunson (backed away from a Louisville commitment and ultimately picked USC), Georgia defensive tackle Kobe Smith (from Kentucky),