HOOVER, Ala. — Whatever South Carolina coach Will Muschamp is selling at SEC Media Days, I’m buying it.

Understand that I picked the Gamecocks to finish last in the East this past season and get nowhere near a bowl game. While they did play better than expected and actually made it to the postseason, they were still only fifth in the division.

Originally, I believed that Muschamp inherited a much bigger rebuilding job than most people — even some garnet-and-black types — realized following the abrupt retirement of the legendary Steve Spurrier the year before. The Head Ball Coach hadn’t been doing the things necessary to remain competitive in the best conference in America.

Halfway through the 2016 campaign, I sure looked right. In particular, USC was going absolutely nowhere offensively.

But making the switch from the impotent two-headed monster of Perry Orth and Brandon McIlwain to Jake Bentley completely transformed what the ‘Cocks could do through the air. Bentley became one of the league’s unexpected freshman stars.

“I don’t think there’s any question that, if you have an established guy at that position, it helps your skill recruiting offensively and helps your offensive line recruiting,” Muschamp said of Bentley. “And then it helps you on defense because guys want to understand that having a guy at that position that can excel, you’re going to win games. And that’s part of the process in recruiting, is saying we’re going to win some football games. Which we are at South Carolina, no doubt.”

Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

With Bentley (above) prepared to really bust out in Year 2, Muschamp might have a high-powered offense seemingly for the first time in his coaching career. Rico Dowdle is but one of three quality tailbacks. Deebo Samuel is explosive both catching passes and returning kicks. Hayden Hurst may develop into the league’s premier tight end.

“I think the first thing I would say, it’s a delight to coach the guy,” Muschamp said of Hurst. “The guy lives in the weight room. If he’s not there, he’s in the film room. He’s asking questions. He is as coachable a guy as there is on our football team and that I’ve been associated with.”

Now Muschamp must fix the defense, which is his specialty. The ex-Florida coach deserves some of the credit for those back-to-back East titles in Gainesville.

"He is as coachable a guy as there is on our football team and that I’ve been associated with." -- coach Will Muschamp on TE Hayden Hurst

He’ll get a major shot in the arm with the return of linebacker Skai Moore, who required a medical redshirt in 2016 due to a disc issue in his neck. He had more than one opportunity to leave for the NFL, yet he remains at South Carolina.

The leading tackler for the Gamecocks three straights seasons — granted, playing for some bad defenses — under Spurrier, Moore has been fully cleared for contact by the medical staff and didn’t appear to have any limitations throughout spring practice. Even if he only played sparingly in the spring game, he looked like his old self.

“I think the first day of contact we had in spring ball, I didn’t say much to him,” Muschamp (below) said of Moore. “And we put him in a one-on-one drill, and he went right after it and threw his eyes in there, and it was awesome. Came out of it, and I said, ‘You all right?’ He said, ‘I’m ready to go.'”

Credit: Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

That being said, he’s not coming back from a broken arm or torn knee. A neck injury is scary for any football player, especially a linebacker.

“We would have obviously not medically cleared him if he was not okay,” Muschamp said. “He’s a tough young man. He’s going to be fine. He’ll — my expectation for him is to play extremely well. That’s exactly my expectation.”

When filling out my ballot at the Wynfrey Hotel, I went with Georgia to win the division like most everyone else. But it wouldn’t surprise me if Florida finds a way for the third straight year, as disrespect can be quite the motivator.

I’m going with USC third, though. Yes, ahead of Kentucky. The Wildcats have a lot of believers here in Hoover, but I need to see it on D first. Yes, ahead of Tennessee, too. The Volunteers just have too many questions to answer on both sides of the ball, plus I was less than impressed with the message being spread by coach Butch Jones.

“It’s an exciting time to be a Gamecock right now,” Muschamp said. “I really see a push in our athletic department and support from our administration of doing the things you got to do to be successful. 650 Lincoln, where our players live, we’ve been in that two years now. It’s as nice a living facility as there is in the country. The Dodie Anderson Academic Enrichment Center. Maria Hickman and her staff do an absolutely phenomenal job. Twenty straight semesters of above a 3.0 cumulative GPA for our student-athletes. That’s unheard of. Last year, our football team graduation rate was rated third in the country.”

No, I didn’t overestimate the rebuild that Muschamp first had on his hands. But maybe some of those bricks en route to Knoxville took an unexpected detour to Columbia.