SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

There’s a prevailing thought in the college football world that next to the head coach the next important person in the organization is the head of strength and conditioning.

The coach and his staff spend the most time around players during winter and summer workouts and are responsible for getting them physically ready to compete at a high level.

So, knowing how important the hire is, Will Muschamp saw a lot of things that made him feel comfortable hiring Paul Jackson to head up the program starting this year.

“I think his template in the offseason is very similar to some things we’ve done,” Muschamp said. “In talking to him there are some things they’ve done that I was impressed with that jumped out at me that I liked, personally.”

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Jackson was hired in mid-December after the Gamecocks moved on from Jeff Dillman soon after the season ended.

Before coming to South Carolina, Jackson spent the previous eight seasons at Ole Miss serving under Huge Freeze and Matt Luke before Luke was fired this year and his staff was subsequently let go.

Jackson also had stops at Southern Mississippi and Miami (Ohio).

During the interview process, Muschamp said he had plenty of former employers from Jackson’s past who vouched for what the Gamecocks would be getting if Muschamp hired him.

“There were some things in the interview process I was impressed with that he brought to the table,” Muschamp said. “There are some people he worked for that I have tremendous respect for that stood on the table and talked about him as a man and as a strength coach.”

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Now Jackson’s job is to hit the ground running and implement his regiment before winter workouts once players arrive back on campus and the semester starts Jan. 13.

Jackson begins work with the full team this month and in charge of conditioning and weight lifting plans.

Muschamp said what impressed him about Jackson’s offseason work was his emphasis on improving NFL Combine numbers after spring practice.

“A lot of his sprint work I liked with the football team in the offseason. When spring ends, we do spring early—they had done that before when he was at southern miss with Larry Fedora and at Ole Miss with Hugh Freeze,” Muschamp said. “They had a combine-like atmosphere the post three weeks after spring ball is concerned to lead you right into the draft. Our last day of class is April 27 and we get done with the spring (program) on April 4. To motivate our guys to life, that’s something that’s really important so they can put out good numbers. Those are the numbers NFL scouts are going to see.”

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The Gamecocks begin winter workouts soon before spring practice starts in late February, continuing until the first week of April. They’ll have more spring workouts until the end of April before starting summer conditioning in May and going through June.

Jackson was hired in mid-December after Jeff Dillman was fired. Right now Jackson is working on getting his staff set up, and Muschamp said on National Signing Day they’re still working on who will assist Jackson in the weight room.

“We have three really good assistants on campus right now and we’re working through that process as we see it,” Muschamp said.