Introducing Everette Sands as the New South Carolina Runningbacks Coach

As tryptic reported earlier today, USC has hired Everette Sands to be its new runningbacks coach. Sands replaces Jay Graham, who departed to return to Tennessee, his alma mater.

I'm a big fan of this hire. Folks have been throwing Sands's name around as a good candidate for this position for a while now, and with good reason. He brings both coaching expertise and recruiting potential to the position. A standout, 1AA All-American in the early 1990s while at The Citadel, a stint that included a 100+ yard game in a win over the Gamecocks, Sands has coached runningbacks at various programs, most recently N.C. State, since the late 1990s. In that time, he has helped produce a number of solid rushing attacks. In sum, our stable of runningbacks should be in good hands.

I'm most excited about Sands as a recruiter. Sands only had a single year in Raleigh, and his other experience came at various mid-major and FCS programs, so he hasn't had a lot of time to show off his recruiting skills at the highest level. That said, he's thought to bring a lot of potential in this regard, as he's a young, high-energy guy with a character that people respect and admire. Needless to say, moreover, he has deep ties to the state of South Carolina due to his successful playing and coaching career at The Citadel and longtime coaching career in the Carolinas. He should be able to use these ties to help build a good pipeline and bring in solid talent from around the area.

All in all, I think we got our man here.