But just how far is South Carolina from having national title caliber talent?
The offseason is a great time for whimsy and smack talk. South Carolina and Clemson provided just that this week.
"We have the young talent here to win a national championship," said South Carolina QB Jake Bentley.
Clemson linebacker commitment Jake Venables, a member of the 2018 class who happens to be the son of the Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables, fired back.
@Sapakoffpic.twitter.com/pK9ZSht1Vh
— Jake Venables (@jvenables_) February 23, 2017
Clemson is, of course, the national champion. South Carolina lost seven games in 2016 and has never won anything of significance.
So which Jake is correct?
Obviously, it’s Jake Venables. South Carolina does not have the talent to win a national title, at least not by modern standards.
Since the turn of the century, signing more four- and five-star recruits in the previous four recruiting cycles than two- and three-stars, is a prerequisite for taking home the trophy.
Entering the 2017 season, South Carolina sits at just 31 percent blue chips signed in the last four seasons, which is well below the mark.
What’s more, even if South Carolina managed to sign the No. 1 recruiting class in 2018, with something like 25 signees, all of whom were elite prospects, it would still bring the number up to only 45 percent. That’s really close, but it is still not there.
The bottom line is that the chance South Carolina has anything close to national championship talent while QB Jake Bentley has eligibility is basically zero. If South Carolina can show improvement during his tenure, maybe in the future its recruiting can reach an elite level. While Coach Will Muschamp’s head coaching record is poor, he is certainly an accomplished recruiter, and arguably exceeded expectations in Year 1 at South Carolina.
Still, this is what South Carolina fans have to want from their promising sophomore QB. That type of attitude from a leader is what inspires players to believe in a common goal, and put in championship-level effort.