USC, Clemson and lines in the sandhills

CLEMSON — Woody McCorvey sure caused quite a stir for a guy whose Mississippi State offense this season was less frightening than a club sandwich.

First, Steve Spurrier publicly takes "the blame" for South Carolina Football, Inc., announcing McCorvey into the Gamecocks fold as receivers coach only to have the deal fall through a day later. McCorvey expected a two-year contract and pulled out when informed by Spurrier the Columbia term limit for non-coordinators is 12 months.

Whether or not the call came down from athletic director Eric Hyman, a line was drawn in the Carolina Sandhills. It's not quite yanking the reins on Spurrier's master plan to win the Southeastern Conference East Division title, but the Gamecocks perception suffered when McCorvey in a matter of hours jumped to Clemson to work with old pal Dabo Swinney, initially in an administrative capacity.

Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips has no problem with contracts of more than one year for assistant coaches.

"Not at all," he said. "In fact, we were one of the first schools to start that when I was (athletic director) at Oklahoma State. We did that with Les Miles' staff."

Multi-year deals

Presumably, Swinney as Clemson's sizzling new and conveniently inexpensive head coach has years to offer and money to spend on assistants as he assembles his staff. Longtime Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis met with Swinney on Wednesday and is in line to replace Vic Koenning as Clemson defensive coordinator.

Charlie Harbison, a former Clemson assistant coach most recently employed as Mississippi State's defensive coordinator, has been hired as Swinney's defensive backs coach.

Not that Clemson's apparently more aggressive approach to staff building is better than South Carolina's.

Tennessee under Chavis (and with no games remaining) is second in the SEC in total defense, up from 11th in 2007 and eighth in 2006. Probably worthy of a polite golf clap.

Koenning's resume says Clemson was 13th in the nation in total defense in 2006 (the best for the Tigers since 1991), ninth in the nation in 2007 and are fourth in the ACC this season.

Maybe in a mushy economy, it's better for purse-string managers at state schools to be more frugal.

Note that South Carolina happily rushed to give special teams "coordinator" Ray Rychleski a multi-year contract last off-season after the Gamecocks' 2007 season ended with a 23-21 loss to Clemson in which the biggest play was a blocked punt that went for a Tigers touchdown and a 10-0 lead.

So, of course, one of the biggest plays Saturday in Clemson's 31-14 victory over South Carolina was a blocked punt that set up a field goal giving the Tigers a 10-0 lead.

Sometimes extra money and added contract years don't make a distracted college kid remember to block any better.

Fun 'confirming'

Then again, wins and losses probably are more the difference in the South Carolina and Clemson assistant coach spending policies than values.

Would Spurrier and Hyman have deeper pockets if South Carolina was 9-3 instead of 7-5?

Clemson, with a man who will be one of the lowest-paid head coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference, can afford to have what might wind up as one of the league's highest paid football staffs.

"I don't know if I'd say it's been fun," Swinney said Wednesday at Clemson's Gator Bowl news conference when asked about his search for new coaches. "It's a process you just have to deal with. One thing that's been fun is kind of confirming what I already knew and thought, that people hold Clemson in high regard."

The honeymoon continues. Swinney will be graded on a curve even at the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl against Nebraska.

Next year, however, assistant coach scrutiny starts with the opening kickoff.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at 937-5593 or gsapakoff@postandcourier.com.