The doors are open to all visitors when it comes to South Carolina’s offensive football meeting room. Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield and his four technical assistants meet every day and, if players want to get in, they can pull up a chair.
The offensive team moved to a different conference room, so that everyone who entered could distance themselves socially, but still speak through plays and films. They are socially distant, but they are becoming a close-knit group.
The idea of letting players enter their own time arose to create a close and familiar environment that the head coach Shane Beamer is trying to instill in the entire program.
“It is a constant contact and an attempt to absorb us in their lives so that they trust us,” explained Satterfield on Monday at a news conference with reporters.
“When you train them, they need to have confidence and we have to trust them. You cannot do this without a relationship. It’s been really cool to see guys coming here with smiles on their faces. We invite you to participate in our offensive team meetings. They talk to us, they are cutting, and I think this will help a lot in building the program. The importance of the relationship with the players and the importance of communication, I think it will pay great dividends going forward. “
At one of the most recent offensive team meetings, Satterfield reported that three quarterbacks, a tight end and four attackers came in to sit down and be part of the conversation.
When coaches are able to design the play with those who are watching, be it something they did in practice or something they are picking up from another team, these players are able to see what the coaches want. It is an easy teaching tool at a time when players are often unable to learn.
It is also a time when coaches and players can build “unique relationships” that can inspire a change in the team’s culture.
“The only way for you to succeed if we are in this thing together. It’s cliché, but it’s the truth. Until you agree to do this, it will never happen. You may have better players than everyone else, but you will not have the unique relationship needed to consistently reach the next level. Everyone who arrives can go up there. We trained them. It’s amazing how much they can learn in that environment. Then they see how you’re working, watching the tape and how they fit together. Slowly but surely, it passes from us, the players, and you, the coaches, to us, the Gamecocks of South Carolina.
Gamecocks have practiced for three days so far this spring, but are taking a short break in the field. South Carolina will return to the camp after the Easter holiday on Monday, April 4.