Will Muschamp A Fan Of New Practice Schedule
The South Carolina Gamecocks will hit the field a little later than previously anticipated after the SEC announced the new conference practice schedule.
Starting Aug. 17, teams are allowed to practice 25 times over a 40-day period while sticking to the NCAA's rule of 20 hours of in-season football access time per week.
From August 7-16 are allowed to participate in up to 14 hours a week of strength and conditioning as well as walkthroughs.
Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger reported on the changes and said the plan "expands the SEC’s practice window by 11 days, providing flexibility for more off days and potential COVID-19 related interruptions."
Wednesday South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp spoke to media and said the top priority is making sure the team is on the same page in terms of conditioning.
"To me it's still 25 practices in 40 days. It's spread out a little bit more, we still have an acclimation period of two helmets two shelves full pads," he said. "Again I think that different guys, you gotta make sure the conditioning of your team right now, there may have been some guys that have missed some time because of different reasons. So you've got to be smart about your football team right now and see you know where they are from a conditioning standpoint.Paul Jackson and his staff have done a fantastic job with our guys this summer and and I think you gotta be really smart about that." .
Muschamp went on to say that the way the practice schedule is set up is one that should be considered in the long run.
"But it's still 25 practice and that's about what we've normally done anyways. It is spread out a little bit more which again, I think that benefits a student athletes. I think that helps the guys being able to recover better so I think moving forward that ought to be a model that we ought to look at. I even loved the walkthroughs we were able to do. They were very beneficial for our guys as well. We're further along, even though we're installing a new offense, than we probably would have been normally.
The extra time will also help as a couple of Gamecocks get healthy as Muschamp reported a few injuries.
-Redshirt sophomore linebacker Rosendo Louis Jr. tore a tendon in his quad and is expected back in mid-September.
-Redshirt junior wide receiver Chad Terrell is still recovering from an ACL tear and is also expected back in mid-September.
-Freshman wide reciever/tight end Jaheim Bell suffered a torn ACL in high school and Muschamp said he expects him to be cleared the first of October.
-Freshman tight end/linebacker Eric Shaw had bone spurs and is expected to be back in two weeks.
-Junior linebacker Ernest Jones very recently had his appendix removed and is expected to rejoin the team in a few weeks.