Anti-Gamecock columnist says defense will be fine, with no personnel changes

Lorenzo Ward, USC-DC, has
Ron Morris in his corner. That
may not be a good thing, considering
the track record of Morris. 

Ron Morris of The State newspaper says give Defensive Coordinator Lorenzo Ward time to fix USC's

defense, that was atrocious last Thursday versus Texas A&M. Is that sound advice, with the best interest of the team in mind?

Morris said Wednesday: “Lorenzo Ward remains in charge of the defense, as he was a season ago. He was considered one of the nation’s top defensive coordinators before Texas A&M ran up 52 points and 680 yards of offense this past Thursday, and he remains that as USC prepares for East Carolina on Saturday.”

While Morris may be right that the Gamecocks' D has looked horrible before under Ward; should Gamecock fans trust the judgment of Morris?

On top of that, Head Coach Steve Spurrier was very direct in criticizing defensive coaches, and even talked about coaching personnel decisions (firing a coach over the A&M debacle on defense.)

To put the Morris-Spurrier relationship in perspective.

Morris is the columnist who compared Spurrier – and his control of the program - to the child-rape case at Penn State.

While that comparison was sensational, it was not the problem most Gamecock fans had with Morris. Before he went off the deep end, with the PSU connection, Morris seemed to employ a constant nitpick, and brooding animosity, for Spurrier. He accused Spurrier of “poaching” former hoops player Bruce Ellington (now in the NFL.)

Morris also seems to think exactly opposite of true supporters of the Gamecocks.

So the logic is: if something is good for the Gamecocks, don't expect Morris to get it or express it. If he does support something related to the improvement of the team, it may be a good idea to suspect he is not right, and headed in the wrong direction.

In this case, Morris is opposing Spurrier. Spurrier says it's the coaching on D, and he is holding coaches accountable.

Morris says give Ward and Co. time to fix the problem, because they have in the past. But Gamecock fans, like Spurrier, are asking why are we in this mess, again, in another year?

Fans would also be right to suspect the intentions and motives of Ron Morris. His PSU reference, and the reason for it, cannot be easily forgotten, nor should it be.

If Morris is on your side, it's likely not a good thing, if you're a Gamecock.