Keys to Rebuilding South Carolina Football: Balanced Recruiting Classes

Around college football, Will Muschamp is known predominately for one thing: hard-nosed defensive units. Knowing Muschamp's background as a defensive guru would lead to the reasonable assumption that his teams at South Carolina will be built around stifling defenses. That is a reasonable assumption to make, and quite frankly will probably end up being true. But, it will be extremely important to pull in classes that include both offensive and defensive talent. When completely rebuilding a program, it's going to take pulling in good recruits on both offense and defense, making sure they develop during their time in Columbia.

Early on, it's shaping up to be an solid class for Muschamp's debut on the recruiting trail for South Carolina. Currently ranked 26th nationally, the Gamecocks have had six recruits enrolled and in Columbia including four-star quarterback Brandon McIlwain and four-star receiver Bryan Edwards. Muschamp's staff has 18 other players coming in this fall, including four-star defensive tackle Stephon Taylor and cornerback JaMarcus King. Muschamp's biggest victory came when he pulled in Jake Bentley, the 10th ranked quarterback in the nation - who will enroll this summer.

The Gamecocks' 2016 recruiting class is comprised of 13 offensive players and 12 defensive players. That's an example of balance, signing the same amount of players on both sides of the ball. The other major factor in recruiting balance is not going to heavy at one position, which the Gamecocks have not done. They have mixed offensive play makers with defensive stars, signing offensive weapons like C.J. Freeman, Bryan Edwards, and Kiel Pollard while also making strides on the defensive end of the ball picking up four-star defensive players JaMarcus King and Stephon Taylor.

This is what Muschamp and his staff will need to do in order to fully rebuild a South Carolina football program that has struggled the past few years. This is only one step Muschamp and his staff must take in order to get South Carolina back on top, but it is a huge one. It looks like they're on the right track, and all most USC fans can hope for is that this staff continues down the correct path which ends with several winnings seasons and potentially a SEC title.