| Herald-Journal
The most talented defender in the history of the University of South Carolina is back on the field and loving it.
Connor Shaw’s greater presence during a difficult time for the program should be an extremely positive asset, as the Gamecocks play their last three games of the regular season.
Shaw became the interim coach for USC defenders this week after offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who previously also trained defenders, was promoted to interim coach after Will Muschamp’s resignation on Sunday. Shaw has been on the team since January, when he replaced another legendary ex-Gamecock – Marcus Lattimore – as director of the football student-athlete development program.
Shaw has some partial experience as a field coach, having been named Furman’s coach in January 2018, before leaving that role before the regular season started looking for other non-football business opportunities. Her father, Lee, and her brother, Jaybo, are both high school coaches.
“I grew up in a locker room and it’s basically how I was raised, so I guess I never left the game, even when I wasn’t in football for the past two years,” said Shaw. “I have always imagined myself very attached to the game and I am excited to be on the field and grateful for the opportunity.”
Shaw played at the USC from 2010 to 2013 and had 27-5 as a starter, including 17-0 at home, helping to lead the Gamecocks to three consecutive seasons of 11 wins. The only other double-digit win total in the program’s history came in 1984.
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Shaw became the starter in the third game of his second season, when he passed 311 yards with four touchdowns in a victory over Kentucky to be named SEC’s Offensive Player of the Week. He was unable to start in week 8 of his senior season against the top 10 in Missouri because of an injury, but left the bench to lead a 27-24 victory in two overtime.
Gamecocks (2-5) host Missouri (2-3) at 7:30 pm on Saturday.
“Obviously, there have been a lot of changes this year for coaches, players and me and then the transition from my role in developing players to being on the pitch, but I’m excited,” said Shaw. “I have great memories here as a player, and it was fun to be in the defender’s room and on the pitch. I told our quarterbacks that we have three weeks to compete, have fun, make some memories and be very proud of what we do individually and also as a team. ”
Shaw completed 65.5 percent of his passes for 6,074 yards and 56 touchdowns with 16 interceptions and ran for 1,683 yards and 17 touchdowns. He was part of the Bears and Browns during a career full of injuries in the NFL, where he played only one game, beginning the end of his debut season in Cleveland, in the loss to Baltimore.
The presence of the highly respected, beloved and charismatic Shaw can be a huge boost for Gamecocks as they try to navigate three remaining games of the regular season following Muschamp’s shot and the decision of three defensive players – the corners Jaycee Horn, Israel Mukuamu and the safety RJ Roderick – to give up for the rest of the season. Two other defensive players – Aaron Sterling and linebacker Brad Johnson – were dropped for the rest of the year on Tuesday because of injuries.
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This is a team dealing with the loss of their head coach and a streak of three games lost, losing each game by at least 17 points.
Shaw has been a regular in the defenders’ room and other meeting areas in his previous role. On Tuesday morning, he spoke in front of Bobo, starting quarterback Collin Hill and backups Ryan Hilinski and Luke Doty about his approach in the future.
The theme of his inspiring message was joy, believing and fighting.
“I think we sometimes forget that this game was meant to be fun,” said Shaw. “We need to have a great level of joy when we enter the building and understand that we are all playing football. So believe in each other and in ourselves, believe in the brand, in the coaches, in the process, in the plan and then in the fight. Good things happen to people who don’t give up. I think we were put in that position now, collectively, to understand that we can still come here with a scholarship, still getting paid school, still playing a game that we love.
“We still have a lot to play for the next three weeks. (Baseball Hall of Fame) Ken Griffey once said, ‘When you have fun, the pressure turns to pleasure.’ There is not much pressure on us right now. We can just go and have fun playing the game and compete at a high level. ”