Tanner McEvoy’s departure was almost inevitable. Not only was he buried on the depth chart at QB, USC must also pare its scholarships down to 82 for the 2013-2014 seasons. It’s a simple matter of numbers that indicates he won’t be the only one to leave USC (aside from graduations) in the coming year.
According to Gamecock Central.com, USC has 84 players on scholarship after McEvoy’s departure. The senior class has 18 players on scholarship which means that USC will have 66 scholarship players after the season and can only provide 16 football scholarships to the incoming recruiting class (66+16=82). Currently, USC has 19 commitments in the 2013 class, not including Brandon Golson. I’m sure USC would love to land additional marquee recruits which will make the math even more problematic. I think USC needs to pare about 4 or 5 more scholarships in order to sign its incoming class. Something has to give.
First, USC may have to withdraw scholarship offers from the incoming recruiting class. This is why I think the USC coaching staff is playing hardball with Brandon Golson. But I think the coaching staff wants to limit this practice as much as possible since it significantly and embarrassingly impairs future recruiting. It’s one thing to withdraw a scholarship from a current player who may not have lived up to potential (read as: player’s fault) and another to withdraw a HS recruit’s opportunity to try D1 football (read as: university’s fault).
Second, several of the 2013 commitments—and current scholarship players for that matter—may not qualify or remain academically eligible (remember Harris, Thomas and Hood from the 2012 class) but this is difficult to project and not something USC’s coaching staff can rely on.
Or third, there is likely to be the standard attrition to the remaining 66 players due to withdrawals, dismissals, transfers, etc. so USC may have the opportunity to offer more than 16 scholarships to the upcoming class.
While it’s impossible to know who might fail to qualify or remain eligible academically, I can tell by looking at the scholarship breakdown and depth chart that additional attrition at QB, WR, and possibly OL are likely. I hope that the players at these spots make the coaches’ jobs of selecting the best players extremely difficult.
It’ll be interesting to see how USC lands it’s incoming class. In the words of the OBC, the numbers always seem to work themselves out!
According to Gamecock Central.com, USC has 84 players on scholarship after McEvoy’s departure. The senior class has 18 players on scholarship which means that USC will have 66 scholarship players after the season and can only provide 16 football scholarships to the incoming recruiting class (66+16=82). Currently, USC has 19 commitments in the 2013 class, not including Brandon Golson. I’m sure USC would love to land additional marquee recruits which will make the math even more problematic. I think USC needs to pare about 4 or 5 more scholarships in order to sign its incoming class. Something has to give.
First, USC may have to withdraw scholarship offers from the incoming recruiting class. This is why I think the USC coaching staff is playing hardball with Brandon Golson. But I think the coaching staff wants to limit this practice as much as possible since it significantly and embarrassingly impairs future recruiting. It’s one thing to withdraw a scholarship from a current player who may not have lived up to potential (read as: player’s fault) and another to withdraw a HS recruit’s opportunity to try D1 football (read as: university’s fault).
Second, several of the 2013 commitments—and current scholarship players for that matter—may not qualify or remain academically eligible (remember Harris, Thomas and Hood from the 2012 class) but this is difficult to project and not something USC’s coaching staff can rely on.
Or third, there is likely to be the standard attrition to the remaining 66 players due to withdrawals, dismissals, transfers, etc. so USC may have the opportunity to offer more than 16 scholarships to the upcoming class.
While it’s impossible to know who might fail to qualify or remain eligible academically, I can tell by looking at the scholarship breakdown and depth chart that additional attrition at QB, WR, and possibly OL are likely. I hope that the players at these spots make the coaches’ jobs of selecting the best players extremely difficult.
It’ll be interesting to see how USC lands it’s incoming class. In the words of the OBC, the numbers always seem to work themselves out!