Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 18 one to 2001. But I'm going to be honest with you all here. I feel like I might go over on this one. That's my tagline and everything like that 18 one 2001, but got a lot to discuss. It was a very busy week and really busy end of the week as well. So there's a lot to unpack here and I'm really excited that some of our favorite time of year, I don't know what that means. The favorite time of year for many Gamecocks fans. Baseball season. It's here. So I was originally planning to do some sort of baseball season preview as its own episode didn't work out that way. So going to do a baseball preview, give a quick glimpse into the team, what to expect, of course, give you who they're playing this weekend, and then we'll dive into the rest of the news and everything like that. Scores and all that jazz. So there is a lot to unpack this episode, but I hope y'all had a great week. Any lovebirds out there? Hope y'all enjoyed Valentine's Day. Maybe got some know on the hardwood. It was a tough game, which we'll get into in a second here, but maybe you could drown your sorrows in some Hershey's kisses, things like that. Maybe you had flowers to look at, try and cheer you up because we certainly needed it Wednesday night. But we're going to dive into all that in a second here. But first, let's look back at what has gone on around Gamecock Nation this week. Starting on Tuesday, you had the women's golf team winning the San Diego State Classic. Shout out the women's golf team. It is multiple wins for them this season. They held on on this tournament. Very impressive. Number six in the country. They are kicking ass. And then men's golf finished 11th in the Puerto Rico classic. That's all right, guys. I'm sure we wish we could finish better there. But on the flip side, you're in Puerto Rico playing golf. That's awesome. I'll take that any day of the week. And then on Wednesday, big update here. Women's tennis beat Clemson six to one. That is an ass kicking. And anytime that we get to beat Clemson, I will celebrate that. But especially when you're looking at six to one. And then Thursday, softball was in action and they whooped Utah, beating them to the score of nine to one. So very exciting there. Big week. Exciting times from around the spring sports and all that jazz. But then some big news dropped Thursday morning. I think we all needed a bit of good news, and this was that. Sean Elliott has been hired as the tight ends coach and run game coordinator. That's right, you heard that correctly. Sean Elliott, he's back. Like Voldemort. Insert that gift. He's back. So Sean Elliott, for those of y'all who maybe don't remember or need a refresher, Sean Elliott was on staff under Steve Spurrier as the offensive line coach and then served as the interim head coach for about six games. I think it was after Spurrier retired and then he was actually retained by Will Mushchamp to stay on as the offensive line coach. He ended up leaving South Carolina, and he's been the head coach down at Georgia State for the last several years where he's had a good amount of success. He elevated that program. He was someone that I've always kind of kept an eye on and tracking his success and wishing him success and was like, man, this guy might make that jump to the next level. But I guess for whatever reason, he felt he brought Georgia State to that ceiling. There were no other head coaching gigs calling. He decides to come back to Columbia, where his family never left.
[00:05:14] They all love the greater Columbia area. Elliot himself is from South Carolina. He loved being as part of the Gamecocks program. I think he always eyed a return in some regard, and it's just funny how it works. One door closes and another door opens. Justin step leaves the program.
[00:05:36] People feel some type of way about it. People feel know we're going to be missing him, especially from a cultural standpoint, only to bring in Sean Elliott, who is going to immediately help the tight ends. He has tight end coaching in his background, but his offensive lineman pedigree as being a coach for that position group is going to help tremendously, working alongside Lonnie Teasley in the blocking schemes that a tight end has to do.
[00:06:08] But then you talk about a culture guy like he is the ultimate vibes guy. And he loves South Carolina. He loves USC, bleeds Garnet in black. We love how he hypes up his players before the game. He's a maniac on the sideline and then on top of it, I think it's this nice cherry on top where he has that head coaching experience. And when Pete Lembo was on staff here, Shane Beamer was very open in talking about how valuable that was, that he could turn to Pete, who was a head coach at one point in his career and bounce ideas off of or what do you do in this situation? And I have to deal with XYZ. You can relate to what that was like. How did you handle dealing with XYZ? The schmoozing and the stuff behind the scenes that I don't think we often see as a head coach. So now he has that in Sean Elliott.
[00:07:09] Then on top of it, Sean Elliott is also coming in to be the run game coordinator. Now, his fingerprints were all over the run game in those spurrier years, the zone read with Shaw and all the success we had there. So you're bringing in a guy who has a track record of being a fantastic blocking offensive lineman coach. So he's going to help the tight ends there. If nothing else, he can share some knowledge with Lonnie Teesley as well as he's ramping up in his coaching career. Right then he's going to be married with Dawa Loggins, who I think proved last year that he's pretty darn good at calling up pass plays.
[00:07:56] We needed help running the ball, and you're going to bring in a guy in Sean Elliott who is masterful in generating the run game. When you look at his offenses at Georgia State, they were always very consistent and they were always able to give teams fits. You remember when we played them a couple years ago, their quarterback ran all over us, their running backs were running all over us. They were always able to get a good push, and his teams and his rushing attacks and his offensive took his identity, which is hard nosed football. So he's going to help Dowell bring along this run game, and then all of a sudden you're looking at these coaches that Shane Beamer has brought in this season, Sean Elliott, James Coley, Markel Blackwell, Joe Di Camillas. And all of a sudden you're saying, wow.
[00:08:55] One thing that this staff does not lack, especially on the offensive side of the ball, is experience.
[00:09:03] Coley been in college game forever. Very well respected. Blackwell been in the college game for many years, respected both the guys. Both those guys have a lot of experience in the SEC, especially.
[00:09:16] Joe D. Camillas. Decades worth of special teams knowledge, execution, mainly at the NFL. But hey, he had a little stint at Texas, learned how impactful special teams can be at the collegiate level. And then you bring in Sean Elliott, who has a resume as good as anyone could ask for in the college level, worked his way up, knows the state, knows the program, knows how exciting it can be and what it takes to bring South Carolina football to that level. But he also comes with the experience of being a head coach, how to navigate some of this modern recruiting nil and all that jazz. And he comes with the experience of helping to build a successful rushing attack. So the man is back. This is a home run. Higher. I'm so glad to see Sean Elliott back in Columbia. I think this will prove to be invaluable. And again, if nothing else, his knowledge will be good in that building. It will help Lonnie Teasley on the offensive line. I think it will help Dawah Loggins how to scheme up certain things. This is not to take away from any of those guys.
[00:10:36] He's not a co offensive coordinator or anything like that. He's a run game coordinator. He's going to help Dawah Loggins build and execute a system which, by the way, should help a guy with a skill set like Lenoris Sellers.
[00:10:52] So all these pieces are starting to come together and there was always this sentiment that Shane Beamer could bring in this all star staff, and I think there were some people who felt maybe that hadn't been lived up to now. All of a sudden you look around on the offensive side of the ball especially, and there is a lot of experience.
[00:11:12] Upgrades from the last couple of years pretty much across the board can be really excited about this staff for sure. So yeah, welcome back, Sean Elliott. My jaw was on the floor when I saw that news this morning. I was so happy.
[00:11:28] Out of left field. Totally out of left field. Didn't hear a peep about this. But for Elliott to leave his head coaching gig at Georgia State to come back to Columbia, that means something.
[00:11:40] And I think the team will immediately feel his impact in a very, very positive way. But speaking of being back, Gamecock baseball is here, y'all. Happy opening weekend. Happy opening weekend. It's funny, I've said this before, but with Gamecock baseball, it's always been this big countdown, right, where you're like, let me get through this cold winter. I need to get to baseball season because we love our Gamecocks baseball, but with both the men's and women's basketball teams kicking ass, it's almost gotten lost in the shuffle.
[00:12:21] It just feels like all of a sudden opening day is here because we've been so locked in with midweek games, SEC games, all that jazz, but now it's all converging and it's very fun to see. It's going to be a lot to keep track of, but that's why I'm here for you all. But it's bound to be a very exciting month, month and a half here as we have three major sports cooking at a high level. So let me give you a little bit of a preview of what I'm thinking of for this team, what I'm thinking of for this year. And yeah, let's just dive into this thing. So quick recap from last year. The team had a 42 and 21 overall record, 16 and 13 in SEC play. This team went to super regionals and fell. You'll remember that this team was really humming along for most of the year and then hit a really bad skid. Injuries were part of that. Guys slumping were part of that. And then end of the year rolled around. The team got healthy right at the right time. Postseason play, they took everything up a notch, go to the super regionals and unfortunately came up just short. But this year is finally here and it's always an exciting time around. Gamecock country. They are opening up against Miami, Ohio. Now, players to be excited about for this season. Looking at the offensive players here in the lineup, it has to start with Ethan Petrie, right? I mean, the kid came at another planet last year. Freshman, seemingly all SEC home run records. Like the kid was unbelievable.
[00:14:09] He is the first person that I think of when I think of what am I excited about for Gamecock baseball. It's going to be exciting to see what he can know. Imagine just getting better, right? So he is the guy that I think is going to make a lot of this go, but right behind him is Cole Messina. Right? Moose had a great year last year. He's back. Him and Petri talked about they want to be the guys, to be that veteran presence to bring along this team. He was a guy that was also consistent, can sort of hit for power as well. So I'm very excited about him. I'm also excited and high on Gavin Cassis. This was a guy who considered taking it to the next level, ended up coming back to South Carolina. He had streaks where he was slumping a little bit last year, but he was a guy that provided a lot of pop and brought some SEC experience with him when he transferred in. So I'm looking at him to be a consistent factor. I think he might be dealing with a little bit of injury coming into this first series will be interesting to watch. And then Talmudge Lee Croix as well. I'm a big Talmudge fan. Talmudge lecroy, my boy. But those are the four guys that I am excited to see who I will be looking at to really be that core group on this lineup to provide consistent offense to be the veteran presence to know what to do in given situations. And one of these guys is going to be the guy that you turn to when you say we need a hit and hopefully these guys can deliver. There's other players, of course, that you can be excited about. Will Tippett, a guy know contributed in spurts last year. Can he bring that to the next level as well? But then you look at the other side of that coin and you talk about biggest question marks going into this season. And for me it's starting pitching now.
[00:16:09] The bullpen feels deep if nothing else, right? You're anchored by Chris Veech. You got a lot of arms in there.
[00:16:17] They were talking about how feels like maybe being underrated. Part of this team is the bullpen, where there is a higher ceiling than most are giving those guys credit for. So I'm going to say if nothing else, it does feel like it's a deep bullpen and you got to love having a guy that can go in there and stop the game for you. Starting rotation you're looking for this weekend. You have Eli Jones, Dylan Escue and Roman Kimball. That's Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But again, is this going to be the rotation? That's the question mark for me. Who is going to emerge as that Friday starter? Because this year there is not one. Right. There's no Will Sanders walking through the door this year, right? Noah hall. Right. These guys have moved on. So it would not surprise me if for the first few weeks of this series, of this season, excuse me, that we're going to see some different combinations. Right? Does Kimball emerge as a Friday guy? Maybe it is Jones. Right. SQ has worked himself there. Other guys who could crack the rotation. Matthew Becker, guys who maybe in the midweek games, maybe they find themselves onto the weekend. Parker Malotte, Ty. Good. So there's guys there. But the issue is that there's nothing set. There's not like one guy that you feel like, yeah, he's our ace. I love Matthew Becker. He's dealing with a little bit of a nagging injury.
[00:17:45] Eli Jones. I'm a big fan of his as well. Kimball is a guy that I'm really excited about. Kimball has big time game experience. At his last school, Notre Dame, he was banged up last year. But coming into this year he's healthy. He has the stuff. He's pitched in big games. He has the makings of that Friday guy in my mind. But the question is, can he get there? So I think you're going with Eli Jones on Friday. This go around. He's been with the team, he's gave you meaningful innings. Give him the ball Friday, get off to a good start. The guy that you know, the guy that you're familiar with, all that jazz, go to SQ on Saturday, Kimball. And then you take it from there. And if one of these guys starts lighting up, maybe you move them to Friday.
[00:18:31] We can get a little cute with it and say maybe having the versatility is a good thing, but you ultimately do want to have that rotation set moving forward. Now the good news is I feel that our lineup is solid enough and the offense should be good enough to carry even just an average rotation. So you're not asking any of these guys to be all SEC. That would be fantastic.
[00:18:58] But the lineup and the offense should be able to carry these guys. All the starters have to do is be average to maybe slightly above average, and I think the team can do well enough. And then you're looking at this schedule, it's a very interesting one. You're facing Vanderbilt in the second series of SEC play. That will be really an interesting measuring stick. They always have a good program. That series is at home. Going to Florida will be tough. Bad taste in our mouth from them especially. And then I think ending with Tennessee, ending the regular season with a series at Tennessee with Tennessee rather, could have some big implications. Hopefully South Carolina is at a position where you feel good about getting into the postseason, but for a few know, maybe hosting a regional seeding in the SEC tournament that feels like that one could be a huge series at the end of the year. And when you look at overall expectations for the year, it's funny, right? You talk about your record in SEC play. What's the benchmark? Isn't it 15 wins in league play is sort of the benchmark there. This team went 16 and 13 last year and that's with that bad skid. I like that mark. I think if this team goes 16 and 13, we are having a very good year and I just feel like there could be some bumps along the way, especially with the starting pitching. It could be tougher starting league play this year. I think this team could end and have a better middle than last year, but starting SEC play I think could prove a little difficult for the guys. So could be some bumps along the way. I would love a 16 and 13 record here. And then it's got to come back to the question of Mark Kingston.
[00:20:55] Has he earned more goodwill after the year we had last year or is he still on a short lease? Because you remember going into last season, people were ready to fire his ass and it was really supers or bust for him and, well, he got the Supers. So now what does that mean? Is it supers or bust again?
[00:21:13] I've said it once, I'll say it a thousand times that getting to the regionals really kind of hosting a regionals even that's the bare minimum for expectations at the University of South Carolina baseball, right? That's like getting to a bowl game. You need to be able to at least do that year in and year out. So is doing the bare minimum expectation good enough for Mark Kingston this year? I think this team should have a path and should be able to find themselves to supers again. I'm not going to go as far and say right now before the season starts that it's supers are bust, right? Like if they're crawling their way into regionals, he might have to think about it. But I do think that he has earned some goodwill. The team responded in an excellent way last year. They had a fantastic season last year. There's enough pieces left from that group and you brought in some other pieces from the transfer portal. There's some talented freshmen on this team and I think we might have a know. The starting pitching needs to get settled. I look at Roman Kimball as a guy that could be the anchor for us. I like Jones. I like Becker. Right? So then if you have that fourth sort of floater, right, maybe that's Esky or maybe EScU is the Sunday guy with Becker as the floater.
[00:22:35] You can mix and match it, but that's definitely something to consider going into the season. It will be interesting to track how it settles out. But Gamecock baseball is back, y'all. I'm excited. It's a fantastic time of year. It's going to be a lot to keep up with. Last year we didn't have this problem because baseball started and you were like, okay, I can keep track of two sports, women's basketball and baseball. Men's basketball was. I don't want to say an afterthought, but they were having a tough year last year. It's okay, we all know it. We've gotten better. But this year that's not the case. But I'll sign up for this ten out of ten times, getting ready for a potential tournament run in both sports and then kicking off baseball. It's going to be fun, but I'll be here to bring you all up to speed on all the sports, all the scores, as always here. But let's do that. Right now with moving on to men's basketball as Thursday night. Excuse me, Wednesday night, the men lost to Auburn 101 to 61. And I'm going to be honest, I don't feel like talking about this game.
[00:23:38] So I'm really not. It was a shitty game. It was a crappy night. And it just so happened that our crappy game just so happened to go with Auburn's unworldly game. I mean, Auburn was doing things that just doesn't happen, right? They were shooting the lights at the place like 30% better or something like that than they normally do from three point range. After they had that bad loss last weekend against Florida, I had a feeling they'd come in with their hair on fire, but boy, did they ever. That is a tough place to play. They've only lost there a handful of times in the couple of years since Bruce Pearl has been there. That is a incredibly tough place to play. We had a terrible night. No excuses. We did not play our best game even close to it. Very uncharacteristic game as well. Guys. Not playing the way we've seen like one point from the bench. So what is that? This is not going to get it done. So we're not talking about it. We're putting it to bed. The sun came up. We are still having a fantastic season and the focus now has to be on Saturday's matchup against LSU. Saturday afternoon in front of the home crowd. You need to bounce back. We talk a lot about this in football. You can't let a team beat you twice. This team has to respond against LSU. Right. My crow to the game. Here is Talon Cooper. He has to be the engine for the team. He was off against Auburn. Zero assists. I think like four points. Not good.
[00:25:25] He needs to be the one to get this thing going if we're going to take a bright spot from the Auburn game. Michi Johnson, he got the scoring back. So if we can couple that with the rest of the team playing good and Colin Ray Boyles had a nice game too. But limit the turnovers. Get back to playing our game. Let's get contributions from the bench. Josh Gray, Jacoby Wright. Get this thing going again. It's okay. It's basketball. You're bound to lose some games. This was a real stinker. You have to find a way to flush it.
[00:25:59] Last time the men had a really bad stinker was against Alabama. They went on a run. This was a whole game, not a half. But hopefully we can get on a little bit of a run here and then looking at the other side of things, women's basketball. The ladies are playing Tennessee as I am recording this. So y'all know the drill by now, sending good vibes their way over the airwaves. But on Sunday, the women are set to play Georgia at home. Georgia is eleven and 13 overall, just two and nine in the SEC. And look, I don't care if they are o in 1000. Beating Georgia in anything will make me happy. So I really hope the ladies put this one away early. I'm going to have some fun with this quote of the game. Just let full Wiley cook. Let her cook. We're not going to take this one too seriously. Let full Wiley have herself a game. Let's get the good vibes going. Let's go ladies. But with that y'all. That wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show, Cox talking gamecocks. And please like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
