While no one could argue with the job Will Muschamp has done over the last two and a half years for South Carolina, the history of his teams fielding a lackluster offense has following him from Gainesville to Columbia.

Muschamp decided to fire Kurt Roper immediately after the regular season, a coach he once claimed would have saved his job had he hired him earlier in Gainesville, and replaced him with Bryan McClendon — who was promoted from his receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator role to full-time OC for 2018. That move, combined with the hiring of quarterbacks coach Dan Werner, have resulted in the Gamecocks adopting a tempo-based offense.

During his appearance at SEC Media Days on Thursday, junior quarterback Jake Bentley was asked to share his thoughts on the program’s new fast-paced attack.

“I think it’s one of the best things to happen to me as far as my college career,” Bentley gushed. “I think it’s allowed me to kinda slow down, slow down my mind and the fact that I’m not overthinking anything. I’m just focused on what I have to do that play because you don’t have time to think about it so much when you are going that fast.

“Definitely, it’s been different for us, and there’s been some bumps in the road when you are going over it, but I think it’s going to be real big for us. The guys love it. The guys know the advantage it gives us over the defense.”

The South Carolina quarterback was then asked a follow-up question on his new offensive coordinator. According to Bentley, McClendon’s aggressiveness and willingness to take shots is what sticks out in his mind.

“He’s very aggressive, very aggressive mindset — which I love, the guys love. He wants to score as many points as he can every single game,” Bentley continued. “The guys have really bought into that, and I think they understand that any play can be a touchdown. I think the biggest change I’ve seen when a guy has a vertical and he thinks he’s trying to just clear out the defense but he can really be a play that can go score. If he sees one-on-one (coverage), he wants me to throw it.”

If South Carolina is going to live up to and possibly exceed the offseason hype the program has received, it’s going to be decided on the success of the new offensive system being installed in Columbia. With the Week 2 home date against Georgia looming large on the schedule, the offense will have to come out firing almost immediately if South Carolina plans to take the pole position in the East early in the season.