SOS pulls 6 scholarships....

[ColonelKurtz]

What say you gamecocks????????????????????

Pat Sullivan did this at TCU and he failed to make inroads in the fertile Texico recruiting grounds. He ain't there no more either. Trust is everything in recruiting and this is, IMVHO, not an intelligent nor prudent move.

[supergenius]

I have not heard this story. C.K:what are the details?

[JerryBeeds]

Spurrier pulls scholarship

Former Irmo star Mullins says he is one of six players whose scholarship is being revoked

By KENT BABB

Staff Writer

Wide receiver Grayson Mullins said Thursday that he is one of several USC players who are having their scholarships revoked.

Mullins, a former standout quarterback and kicker at Irmo High, said he met with coach Steve Spurrier on Monday after receiving a letter last week informing him that his scholarship would not be renewed.

Mullins said Spurrier told him there were other players whose play merited a scholarship more than Mullins’.

Mullins said he was told by Spurrier that he was one of six players who would have their scholarships revoked but that Spurrier did not reveal the other players’ names during their meeting.

Attempts to reach Spurrier on Thursday were unsuccessful.

Under NCAA guidelines, athletic scholarships are awarded for a single school year, meaning they can be renewed or revoked by the university each year.

Mullins said the last time he spoke with coaches, shortly after the Garnet and Black spring game, he was told he had a chance at being a second-string receiver for the Gamecocks.

“Why would they tell me all those good things ... if they were going to take my scholarship away?” said Mullins, who was redshirted as a freshman in 2004.

Mullins said he is considering several options, including returning to the football team as a walk-on or remaining at USC as a student only.

“They told me I’m still on the team — just not for free,” he said.

Mullins, a standout soccer player at Irmo, said he could pursue a spot on the Gamecocks’ soccer team, but he does not plan to speak with coach Mark Berson until he is released from his football scholarship.

Mullins said he has not participated in voluntary football team workouts since Monday’s meeting. He said he took the week off to assess his options.

Mullins, who was selected to play in the Shrine Bowl after his senior season at Irmo, moved to receiver during 2004 fall drills.

“They pulled six guys out and said they weren’t going to make an impact,” Mullins said. “How can you make an impact when I have played this position one year of my life?”

Although Mullins has not decided whether to return to the football team, he said he would have a difficult time playing for Spurrier “because I don’t know what to expect from him.”

“They told me I was doing so good, but that was obviously a lie,” he said. “At the beginning (of Spurrier’s tenure) he told us that the only way to lose your scholarship is by stealing, hitting a girl or breaking the law. And I haven’t done any of those.

“It’s just like a shock. This came out of nowhere.”

[supergenius]

This is a dangerous move for CSS. Trust is a big part of recruiting. I am not flaming Spurrier but this could come back to haunt him and the program.

[WoffordCock]

I just don't really understand what is going on here, I mean I'm sure he has his reasons but this just seems stupid.....

[OmahaBound]

i'm gonna wait until i hear spurrier's reasons before i make a final judgement on this....but i will say based on what i know at this point, i'm not a fan.

[supergenius]

I know that Spurrier is well within his rights but it is kind of an unwritten rule that once you sign a kid, barring trouble, that you honor all 4 years. One of Coach Bryant's qoutes was "doctors get to bury their mistakes, I have to feed mine for 4 years".

[WayzUp]

There's got to be something more to this...maybe Holtz shared a nugget or three of info to Coach Spurrier while out on the golf course.

I bet he's preparing to get as many scholarships freed up so he can make a serious push in getting some early commits. It may not be a popular move but if he can get a scholarship back from one of Holtz's projects that probably wasn't going to pan out and use it to start working on getting more quality than quantity in the upcoming class, I say more power to him.

This kid sounds like he's a hard worker but if you're red-shirted, moved to another position and still only just getting a chance to be 2nd string, maybe you just aren't quite what USC needs when probation and sanctions are coming.

Trust Coach Spurrier, he wouldn't do something like this if it wasn't good for the program. I hate it for these kids but they can blame Perry, Holtz & McGee just like the rest of us. :D

[JerryBeeds]

No, the kid is a D-II talent and he's eating up roster space. I feel sorry for him, but look at like this; if you have a job somewhere making 40 grand a year and you are not getting the job done, what do you think will happen to you? You'll get the axe. Furman and Coastal have already offered Mullins and I wish him well at another school.

[LedCock]

I think Spurriers doing this because he knows we are going to lose scholly's for the next couple of years anyway. By trimming the fat as someone else has said he will go into this recruiting season with more scholly's to offer than he would have and right now this is going to look good to prospects who might be weary of our limit and their chance to get on the team.

[ColonelKurtz]

No, the kid is a D-II talent and he's eating up roster space. I feel sorry for him, but look at like this; if you have a job somewhere making 40 grand a year and you are not getting the job done, what do you think will happen to you? You'll get the axe. Furman and Coastal have already offered Mullins and I wish him well at another school.

Poor example there JB, being recruited to play ball in College isn't the same as the real world. Programs seek guys to play until they graduate, no spinning it.

[BeeDee]

I know that Spurrier is well within his rights but it is kind of an unwritten rule that once you sign a kid, barring trouble, that you honor all 4 years. One of Coach Bryant's qoutes was "doctors get to bury their mistakes, I have to feed mine for 4 years".
You're absolutely right. This is not the way to build trust with recruits. BUT, who am I to second guess the 'Ol Ball Coach? He's a helluva lot better at this stuff that I'll ever be. I guess he knows what he's doing. Does anyone know if he did this stuff at UF?

[Cianne]

Poor example there JB, being recruited to play ball in College isn't the same as the real world. Programs seek guys to play until they graduate, no spinning it.

Agreed Kurtz. If you want to even try to apply a real world example, say you hired a guy to do X job and then switched him over to do Y job. You then trained him for a year and said he was doing good and then you fire him without even getting a chance to actually do the new job. That's the way it seems from this.

If he was seriously told that he'd be running with the second string WR corps, it was pretty bad taste to yank it out from under him without him ever seeing the field.

[JerryBeeds]

Agreed Kurtz. If you want to even try to apply a real world example, say you hired a guy to do X job and then switched him over to do Y job. You then trained him for a year and said he was doing good and then you fire him without even getting a chance to actually do the new job. That's the way it seems from this.

If he was seriously told that he'd be running with the second string WR corps, it was pretty bad taste to yank it out from under him without him ever seeing the field.
We've only heard this kid's side of the story. I'm sure that Mullens and the other 5 probably have academic or other issues going on. And anyways scolly's are year-to-year, think of it as us not renewing his contract.

[Cianne]

We've only heard this kid's side of the story. I'm sure that Mullens and the other 5 probably have academic or other issues going on. And anyways scolly's are year-to-year, think of it as us not renewing his contract.

If we're trying to make up scholarships, why don't we just boot off people like Byrd and the rest of the felons. Not a crack on USC legal woes, but if you're going to trim Holtz's fat, trim the problem children.

[IrmoCock]

One of Coach Bryant's qoutes was "doctors get to bury their mistakes, I have to feed mine for 4 years".

I agree, but this guys wasn't Spurrier's mistake. He was Holtz's project. New regimes come in all the time and make changes in personnel. It's not a new practice for new coaches to inform players they don't fit in with the new systems. I feel bad for the kid, but I know he'll land on his feet.

As far as the other 5 players, anyone heard who they might be?

[Cianne]

New regimes come in all the time and make changes in personnel. It's not a new practice for new coaches to inform players they don't fit in with the new systems.

Just remember, the last time he did that was when he had the best years of his coaching life...with the Redskins.

[cocky4ever]

Agreed Kurtz. If you want to even try to apply a real world example, say you hired a guy to do X job and then switched him over to do Y job. You then trained him for a year and said he was doing good and then you fire him without even getting a chance to actually do the new job. That's the way it seems from this.

If he was seriously told that he'd be running with the second string WR corps, it was pretty bad taste to yank it out from under him without him ever seeing the field.
No, if you wanna apply it to a real world scenario it would be more like this:

Person B takes over a company from person A who had a totally different idea of what type of people should work for the company. Person B decides to try to move an employee to a different area to try to help them fit into the new system better. The employee couldnt signifacantly contribute to the new system in that area either and was then fired.

I will say though, that its kinda weird for him Mullins to say he would be a 2nd string receiver a few months ago and now gets the boot. However, as mentioned earlier we are only hearing this kids side of the story. There are obviously many other factors coming into play in this situation that we arent hearing about.

[Cianne]

No, if you wanna apply it to a real world scenario it would be more like this:

Person B takes over a company from person A who had a totally different idea of what type of people should work for the company. Person B decides to try to move an employee to a different area to try to help them fit into the new system better. The employee couldnt signifacantly contribute to the new system in that area either and was then fired.


Did Spurrier move him or did Holtz? I was under the impression that he came in under Holtz so in fact Spurrier never gave him a chance?

[cocky4ever]

Did Spurrier move him or did Holtz? I was under the impression that he came in under Holtz so in fact Spurrier never gave him a chance?
Well, in highschool he played QB, WR, DB, punter, and placekicker. When he was recruited he was listed as a kicker, however, we just signed a plackicker/punter who was the 6th best at his position in the country. This new kicker will almost CERTAINLY win the starting position this season. That means unless we find something else for Mullins to do we'd have two kickers taking up scholly's. With the way things are going we cant afford that, so if Mullins cant find a way to contribute to the team then he will have to go.

I dont think this will hurt recruiting too bad, but then again I dont know right now which other players are having their scholly's revoked. There is a difference between a 2 star player signed as a kicker and a 4-5 star player. The 4-5 star players dont need to worry about their scholly's going away unless they do something completely stupid.

[Beebop]

Does anyone know who the other 5 players were?

[supergenius]

Does anyone know who the other 5 players were?
Neo, the resident expert is conspiciously absent.

[Beebop]

I noticed......knowing him....he's checking with his deepthroat, trying to find out the real deal.....you can't always believe everything you read in the papers.....Mullins may have stretched the truth a little....never know....they could've asked him to move to another position along with the other 5 and they didn't want to cooperate....so therefore SOS said see ya! Time will tell!

[Where's_Demetris?]

No, the kid is a D-II talent and he's eating up roster space. I feel sorry for him, but look at like this; if you have a job somewhere making 40 grand a year and you are not getting the job done, what do you think will happen to you? You'll get the axe. Furman and Coastal have already offered Mullins and I wish him well at another school.

Agreed.
The underdog will be on top..............at all costs. Sorry son. :cool:

[GamecockDieHard]

I just believe Spurrier has a reason. He's trying to make chicken salad out of the chicken sh##t that he has to deal with.

[ColonelKurtz]

Good grief! Whole lotta rationalization going on here. Folks, its like this, if dissing six scholarship players is they way that SOS is going to fix things, then where is the security for the incoming guys? Can you not see how there would be reservations by newbies?

High school coaches will close the doors when their guys get nixed, SOS is banking a hell of a lot of rep at the expense of goodwill IMVHO.

[GAMECOCK_FAN]

Good grief! Whole lotta rationalization going on here. Folks, its like this, if dissing six scholarship players is they way that SOS is going to fix things, then where is the security for the incoming guys? Can you not see how there would be reservations by newbies?

High school coaches will close the doors when their guys get nixed, SOS is banking a hell of a lot of rep at the expense of goodwill IMVHO.
I haven't chimed in on this one yet since no one has heard Spurrier give an explanation on pulling these scholarships. Of course, the guy from Irmo that got his scholarship revoked is going to give a one-sided explanation (e.g., obviously he's not going to say - I didn't put out the effort and Coach pulled my scholarship, or I refused to play anything other than wide receiver, so Coach revoked my scholarship). On the surface, I'd say it's not a good trend for a coach to start. However, I'll make my judgment after Spurrier is given a chance to put in his 2 cents. After all, he's been doing this a lot longer than most of us, and he's been pretty good at it on the college level. ;)

[cocky4ever]

Good grief! Whole lotta rationalization going on here. Folks, its like this, if dissing six scholarship players is they way that SOS is going to fix things, then where is the security for the incoming guys? Can you not see how there would be reservations by newbies?

High school coaches will close the doors when their guys get nixed, SOS is banking a hell of a lot of rep at the expense of goodwill IMVHO.
I can see your point and you make a good one. I dont think its gonna hurt that bad though. For starters Spurrier hasnt taken away a scholarship that he's offered. Once we see who the other players are that are having their scholly's revoked we will get a better idea of the situation. I will bet though that they are players who could possibly spend their whole SC without making a big impact.

Another interesting point is this:

Spurrier has been dealing with the crap left over from the previous coaching staff since day 1, literally. He was hired and we declined a bowl because of our teams actions. He is now coaching a team that will be penalized because of the previous staff. Like I said in another post a lot of people are being punished for the actions of others, most of whom had nothing to do with the previous problems. Its not always fair but thats how it is. To say what Spurrier is doing is unfair is a statement that seems totally blind to what he has had to put up with in his short time at SC. He runs the team now and has to do what he thinks is best for everyone:the fans,the team,the school, and the coaching staff. The players being dismissed were signed on by the old coaching staff. We will now be punished by the NCAA becaus of the old coaching staff. If we werent about to have scholly's taken away I would guess that Spurrier wouldnt be doing this. If Im gonna blame anyone Im blaming the old staff for getting us into this situation, not Spurrier for trying to do the best with the hand he's been dealt.

[GamecockDieHard]

Good grief! Whole lotta rationalization going on here. Folks, its like this, if dissing six scholarship players is they way that SOS is going to fix things, then where is the security for the incoming guys? Can you not see how there would be reservations by newbies?

High school coaches will close the doors when their guys get nixed, SOS is banking a hell of a lot of rep at the expense of goodwill IMVHO.


With all due respect, I think you're hoping/praying that happens. Hate to break it to you, but I don't think this means squat to the newbies. Do you honestly think a guy like Spur can't sell them on a reasonable explanation of why this happened and why it won't happen to them? They're 17 years old, give or take. No, I'm sorry to say, for you and the other Georgia fans, that Spur will definitely take a bite out your talent pool in Georgia, Florida, Tenn, and so on, and so on. You know it, I know it, everyone reading this knows it, and most importantly the recruits know it. This is day one for Spur, he has to do what he has to do. This is not going to be SOP. If he does this again and again, I'll apologize but I think this is a one time adjustment, necessary because of the piece of debris that was in charge before him.

[supergenius]

Nice party line, but I do not buy it. You cannot screw kids out of their education and then expect others to trust you.

[LedCock]

Nice party line, but I do not buy it. You cannot screw kids out of their education and then expect others to trust you.

Well if the "others" don't trust him then they aren't gonna trust anyone because all coaches do it for time to time. I think its realistic to say that when you have 85 players on schollies, some are going to be complacent and be satisfied with the backup roll. If you were Coach Spurrier and you saw a walk on hustling and improving more than a backup on a scholly, what would you do? Especially during these trying times. Or would you just sit there and hope for the best and be afraid to make waves? Carolina doesn't want a spineless coach. I don't want a spineless coach. Success comes with a price and if you aren't willing to pay it then you won't have it.

[CockyTatGuy]

man who pissed in the UGA fans' cornflakes this week, a few of ya'll seem to have been on the edge a little all week long. You guys still have 56 more days before we roll in and chop down the hedges, too early for you guys to be so jumpy now.

Just try not to think about it...

http://products.consumerguide.com/media/frontend/productImages/2/1/66611110046221-large-Little-Wonder-Gas-Hedge-Trimmer-2130.jpg

[jeffbodean61]

I heard on 93.1 that Trent Usher was one of the other six.

[JerryBeeds]

By: Phil Kornblut

According to reliable sources, redshirt freshman defensive back Trent Usher is a second USC player to have his scholarship rescinded by head coach Steve Spurrier. It was reported earlier that redshirt freshman receiver Grayson Mullins had lost his scholarship. Both players will be allowed to stay on the team, if they choose, as walk ons. Usher is the son of former USC defensive back Al Usher. He was a Shrine Bowl participant in 2003.

[pc72687]

Trent Usher, Winchell, and Grayson Mullins are all that is being listed thus far. Winchell's dad said Spurrier said he could earn it back if he started going to classes and workouts. So I believe this has to do with attitude more then many choose to believe.

Grayson Mullins was god at Irmo and he took that attitude with him to SC. He thought that he would be starting and not have to work hard for it. Also he is very much the party boy! Last I heard he thought pledging was more important then football.

When you have walk-ons working their butts off and scholarship players just biding their time I say do the old switcheroo on 'em. If their attitude changes then give it back to them.

[cocky4ever]

When you have walk-ons working their butts off and scholarship players just biding their time I say do the old switcheroo on 'em. If their attitude changes then give it back to them.

My thoughts exactly.

[GatorNation]

Good grief! Whole lotta rationalization going on here. Folks, its like this, if dissing six scholarship players is they way that SOS is going to fix things, then where is the security for the incoming guys? Can you not see how there would be reservations by newbies?

High school coaches will close the doors when their guys get nixed, SOS is banking a hell of a lot of rep at the expense of goodwill IMVHO.

...but didn't Spurrier "free up" a bunch of scholarships when he dismissed all of those players from the team? I would think it would be almost a wash.

In any event, this is not the kind of auspicious start for which cock fans were hoping, I imagine.

[SPURED]

your right this has not been the start we were looking for. but football is football, im still going to watch it every saturday

[jneesy]

to build something successful you first must tear away what was proven to be unsuccessful......no matter how bad it hurts

[GTmorris1970]

He said he is going to give players who contribute a free ride, plain and simple. Cannot argue that one. :cool:

[GTmorris1970]

Nice party line, but I do not buy it. You cannot screw kids out of their education and then expect others to trust you.

He is not screwing anybody. They have screwed themselves. He is giving players who earn their way a paid ride. He said these players can earn their scholarship back if they so desire. Good grief, where is responsibility anymore? Would you just give somebody a scholarship who doesn't give a crap about playing football, just having their way paid? I know I wouldn't. That is what will build a winner here. Good, consistent coaching and people taking responsibility for their actions. That is what he is bringing to the table, and noone has ever accused him of being inconsistent. These players will get it through their head eventually. Again I say cudos Steve. And, for those who say he hasn't given a reason, www.wistv.com or www.thestate.com. He gave a reason the day it was done. :cool:

[Bongo]

By: Phil Kornblut

According to reliable sources, redshirt freshman defensive back Trent Usher is a second USC player to have his scholarship rescinded by head coach Steve Spurrier. It was reported earlier that redshirt freshman receiver Grayson Mullins had lost his scholarship. Both players will be allowed to stay on the team, if they choose, as walk ons. Usher is the son of former USC defensive back Al Usher. He was a Shrine Bowl participant in 2003.


The Nichols kid (QB) is a walk on that has busted his tail... think he'll pick up a scolly ?

[JerryBeeds]

The Nichols kid (QB) is a walk on that has busted his tail... think he'll pick up a scolly ?
Jermaine Simms and Brett Nichols have both been awarded scholarships to my knowledge.