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The Gamecocks special teams last year suffered from poor blocking, poor tackling, and giving up entirely too many blocked punts (including at critical points against the 'Taters at the end of the year). Thankfully, the 2008 unit is led by one of the most effective special teams coaches in the country in Ray Rychleski.
"I believe Ray is one of the best special teams coaches in the country," said Coach Spurrier. "Maryland has not had a punt blocked since he has been there. I believe we're in good hands with him coordinating our special teams."
His history is equally impressive:
A veteran of 28 years of coaching including 26 seasons at the collegiate level, Rychleski began his coaching career on the prep level in Pennsylvania in 1979 before heading to Temple University, where he took a position as a graduate assistant. Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to his first full-time collegiate coaching post. He spent eight years at Temple (1981-88) before joining the Northeastern staff as a defensive coordinator/inside linebacker coach. After two years at Northeastern (1989-90), he spent a year as a G.A. at Penn State and one summer with the Toronto Argonauts as a volunteer assistant.
In 1992, Rychleski was hired as a special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at East Stroudsburg University where he helped the Warriors to their best record in 13 years. After his brief stint there, he left for Wake Forest in 1993.
