No Super Bowl scalping for ex-USC assistant

Just hung up with first-year Colts special teams coordinator Ray Rychleski, who did a nice job in the same capacity in 2008 in his only season at USC.

Rychleski, of course, is stoked about going to the Super Bowl. He’s only been to one other SB: He paid $2,400 for two tickets to the 2000 game in Atlanta (’99 regular season) when the Rams held on – literally – to beat the Titans by about a foot.

Rychleski will have a better view in Miami. Tough to beat that sideline vantage point.

Rychleski said he received a bunch of texts and voicemails from USC folks after the Colts beat the Jets in the AFC Championship Game, including one from Steve Spurrier. The two later talked for about 15 minutes, and Rychleski sounded genuinely pleased that Spurrier took the time to wish him well against the Saints.

Funny how life unfolds sometimes: I remember Rychleski saying last winter how he was looking forward to working with Adam Vinatieri, who kicked two game-winning Super Bowl field goals with the Patriots and has four SB rings.

Vinatieri will be in Miami, but any last-second kicks will be handled by Matt Stover, who took over the job when Vinatieri underwent knee surgery and kept it after Vinatieri returned.

A note on another kicker more familiar to USC fans: Rychleski said the Colts were planning to sign Ryan Succop if he went undrafted last year. But Succop became Mr. Irrelevant when the Chiefs took him with the final pick of the draft, and Succop went on to have a solid rookie season.

Anyway, look for more on Rychleski in Monday’s editions of The State and gogamecocks.