Much better night for Connor Shaw on Tuesday during his second practice with the Gamecocks.

After struggling with nerves during the first workout before spring break, the right-hander showed off a strong arm on a pair of scramble-play throws. The second was most impressive: He ran to his left, threw back across his body and hit Dion LeCorn in stride down the sideline.

“Connor made a couple of good scramble plays. He scrambled out and hit a couple of deep balls tonight,” Steve Spurrier said. “He’s got a chance. He’s just got a lot to learn.”

As for the Gamecocks’ starting quarterback …

Some observers, including this blogger, have been critical of Stephen Garcia’s leadership in the past. But it looks like he is starting to take ownership of this team in his fourth year.

He seems to be more vocal and is trying to encourage the young quarterbacks behind him. After Aramis Hillary (who has been reinstated following last week’s underage drinking arrest) made a poor throw during 7-on-7s, Garcia gave him a fist-bump when he reached the sideline.

The first crack in Garcia’s tough exterior was revealed after the bowl loss to UConn when he became emotional and had to try to fight back the tears because the Gamecocks were unable to send Eric Norwood and the other seniors out with a win.

Garcia said it took him until winter workouts to get over the defeat.

As for Garcia’s continued growth as a quarterback, Spurrier wants him to cut his 37 sacks from last season in half in 2010.

Garcia has always been refreshingly candid with the media – he conceded Tuesday he didn’t do as many as the QB drills over spring break as the coaches would have liked. But he is beginning to sound more like a leader.

“I feel like a veteran, but I’ve still got two years left and I’m going to use every single day I can to get better,” Garcia said Tuesday. “I’ve been in the system for four years now. I think it’s about time I figured it all out.”

Other notes and observations on a cool night on Bluff Road:

–USC is taking steps to improve its kick coverage. Special teams coach Shane Beamer did a drill Tuesday in which the coverage team ran the entire length of the field – something I don’t remember seeing the Gamecocks do last season.

–T.J. Johnson is still adjusting to the move from guard to center. Johnson, who said he’d never played center before this spring, had a couple of low snaps Tuesday that Garcia couldn’t dig out.

But Garcia believes Johnson will be fine, and complimented him for his “mean streak.” Johnson is a good player. I’m betting he figures out the snapping business.

–Tony Dungy spoke to USC’s team Tuesday afternoon after speaking engagements earlier in the day at the Broad River correctional complex and Columbia International University.

Dungy’s message to USC was hard work and teamwork.

“He gave us two words that we can remember,” Spurrier said. “And our guys seemed to do that better tonight.”

Dungy pointed out that Spurrier indirectly played a part in his career, which culminated with Dungy becoming the first black coach to win a Super Bowl in 2007. Before Tampa Bay hired Dungy in 1996, the Bucs first approached Spurrier, who was in the middle of a successful, 12-year run at Florida.

“If he had taken the Tampa job, I don’t know where I would be,” Dungy said. “So I owe him a lot.”

Think Shaun White on the half-pipe big.

It’s not that Shaw was bad. He just looked young, especially when he stood next to Stephen Garcia, who was sporting a thick beard to go with his thick chest and shoulders.

Shaw was listed as 6-1, 192 pounds when he signed with the Gamecocks. The updated roster has him at 6-foot, 199 pounds.

He’s had two months in USC’s weight program. He’ll get bigger and stronger with time.

Shaw had his moments. Steve Spurrier, who puts a huge emphasis on throwing mechanics, said the ball comes out of Shaw’s hand “pretty nicely.”

It did not always maintain its spiral after it left his hand, however. The wind made throwing tough at times. Garcia had a couple balls flutter on him, as well.

Shaw’s welcome-to-the-big-time moment came on the final snap of practice, when strong safety Damario Jeffery made a good break and stepped in front of a Shaw pass for what likely would have been a pick-six in a real game.

Jeffery was primarily a special teams player last year as a freshman, finishing with 15 tackles in 12 games.

But the Columbia High graduate is big and strong and fast – the kind of athletic player that Shaw will be facing every week in the SEC.

No one is suggesting after one practice that Shaw won’t be successful – only that the learning curve in this league is steep, even for a high school coach’s son.

But Shaw will have his shot.

“He got a lot of snaps,” Spurrier said. “And he’s going to continue to get a bunch of snaps.”

If you’re a USC player or assistant coach, you’d better be, after Steve Spurrier surprised everyone today by deciding to move up the start of spring practice.

Rather than wait until after next week’s spring break, Spurrier wants to take advantage of the good weather forecast later in the week and open spring drills Thursday.

The Gamecocks are scheduled to resume practice March 16, with the spring game still set for 4 p.m. on April 10.

I’ll have a longer spring preview later in the week, but here are a couple of nuggets:

–Fullback Pat DiMarco is going to get work at tight end this spring. The thinking is two-fold: Get a guy who has proven he can make plays more involved in the offense, and make it harder for defensive coordinators to scheme against the Gamecocks based on their personnel sets.

DiMarco will not supplant Weslye Saunders, whom ESPN NFL draft guru Mel Kiper ranks as his top returning tight end prospect. But it gives the offense another dimension.

–The most popular reader question from ’09 – Will Spurrier put receivers Tori Gurley and Alshon Jeffery on the field at the same time? – apparently has been answered.

Media relations director Steve Fink said one of the two (he wasn’t sure which) has switched spots, giving Stephen Garcia two tall targets to choose from.

–A couple more defensive players (both reserves) will miss spring with injuries. Defensive lineman Ronald Byrd continues to recover from knee surgery, while linebacker Reggie Bowens is out after shoulder surgery.

That means more snaps for a few other young, unproven players, and likely some interesting lineups when Ellis Johnson has to field a third-team unit (think last spring game when long snapper Matt Grooms and backup O-lineman Ryan Broadhead) were thrown in on the D-line.

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Unrelated note: ESPN’s Bruce Feldman tweeted today that USC All-American LB Eric Norwood ran an unofficial 4.67 in the 40 today at the NFL combine in Indy.

The 6-foot-1 Norwood weighed in at 245 pounds – a good sign for a former DE whom some scouts believed was a little heavy at times at USC.

As of Monday evening, the NFL’s top results page from the combine did not have Norwood’s official 40 time listed.

Former Gamecocks DE Clifton Geathers was measured at 6-7 and 299 pounds (he was listed at 6-8 and 281 at USC). Geathers was still the biggest end in Indy after Northwestern’s Corey Wootton came in at 6-6 and 270.

Spurrier taped the segment from Orlando, where he is attending an ESPN powwow at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex.

There was some good TV karma working: Spurrier’s appearance came during the second intermission of Team USA’s fin-kicking of Finland in the men’s hockey semifinals.

Rome brought up the subject of USC’s Papajohns.com Bowl loss to UConn, which Spurrier last month called one of three most embarrassing defeats of his career.

“I think UConn just smacked us in the ground, pretty much,” Spurrier said. “I give coach Randy Edsall and his guys all the credit for being better emotionally ready to play. … They just acted like they wanted to play more than we did.”

Mentioning USC’s so-so history, Spurrier told Rome that he would have tied Lou Holtz as the Gamecocks’ winningest bowl coach (with two Ws) had the Gamecocks beaten UConn.

As for making history at USC, Spurrier said he still believes he can win the school’s first SEC title.

“South Carolina’s a school that’s got a lot of potential. I really believe we do have a chance there,” he said. “I know it’s a tough league. But we’re hoping we can put together that one special year and hopefully win a conference championship there at South Carolina.”

Rome asked about the “meat grinder” that can take a toll on coaches, referencing Urban Meyer, and the 64-year-old Spurrier said he thinks he’s stayed healthy by maintaining outside interests (i.e., golf, which he said he plays four to five months a year).

Spurrier, who joked that it’s been a while since he’s been known as a quarterbacks guru, said this about Tim Tebow:

“Once he tightens up that throwing motion, which it appears he has quite a bit, then it has to become a habit. I think he might be a first-round pick. If he tightens up that throwing motion a little bit, we know he’s got all the other intangibles that great quarterbacks have.”

Spurrier being Spurrier, he couldn’t resist taking a little dig at Rome.

As the segment was wrapping, Spurrier smiled and said: “I know sometimes you give me a little crap, but sometimes we all deserve a little bit.”

–Defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward, who coaches corners and free safeties, said the plan is to have Chris Culliver and Akeem Auguste swap positions this spring.

The hope is that by moving to corner, Culliver will have less wear and tear on his twice-repaired shoulder. And while Auguste was solid at corner last season, he is an aggressive player whose collision skills translate well to the free safety position.

Of course, Culliver will not get any work at corner or safety this spring after his most recent shoulder surgery. He is one of a number of prominent defensive players who will be sitting out spring drills (Cliff Matthews, Travian Robertson and Rodney Paulk also are coming off surgeries).

Don’t look for Ladi Ajiboye to do much, either. The defensive tackle is healthy – and D-line coach Brad Lawing intends to keep it that way.

“If I get Ladi hurt in the spring, I’m dumb,” Lawing said.

–USC coaches are seeking a medical hardship waiver for seldom-used corner Addison Williams. That would allow the junior from Atlanta to remain at school and serve as a player-coach, although his scholarship would not be counted against the 85-schollie limit.

–Former USC linebacker Eric Norwood expects big things from Shaq Wilson, his likely successor at the weakside spot: “Shaq can play any position on that back seven, except for cornerback and stuff. Shaq, he’s a baller. He has been since he stepped in.”

Wilson filled in admirably at middle linebacker last fall after Paulk went down with a season-ending knee injury in the opener at N.C. State. Despite giving up a lot of size to the guards and centers assigned to block him, the 5-11, 210-pound Wilson led USC with 85 tackles – four more than Norwood.

Meanwhile, Norwood predicted Paulk would have to fight Josh Dickerson for the starting spot in the middle. Dickerson finished among the Gamecocks’ top 10 tacklers in 2009 after transferring from junior college (and injuring his shoulder in last year’s spring game).

“Josh came on strong through the middle of the season when he started picking up that defense and getting more comfortable,” Norwood said.

As far as I know, it’s the first time Geathers has spoken publicly since leaving USC last month to enter the NFL draft. Geathers never had any kind of press conference at the time, and – as Steve Spurrier noted – he turned his cell phone off and stopped taking calls.

Geathers insisted he talked to all of his coaches, Spurrier included, before leaving town. As it was explained to me, Geathers called Spurrier to tell him he was leaning toward leaving, but never called back with the definitive word.

In any event, the 6-8, 281-pound Geathers has been working out in Pensacola, Fla., getting ready for the combine. He will join former USC linebacker Eric Norwood and strong safety Darian Stewart in Indy this weekend (more on those two Thursday).

USC associate athletics director Charles Waddell, a former NFL player and executive who advised Geathers to stay for his final year, said the defensive end was concerned about the risk of injury, having seen what happened to Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford.

Anyone who has ever stood next to Geathers can vouch for his “measurables.” He is a big, big man whom Waddell says is a legitimate 6-7, 6-8.

Asked if he considered whether this was a particularly strong or lean crop of defensive ends before he jumped in the draft pool, Geathers said: “I don’t look at other defensive ends because, really, I know I’m bigger than all the other defensive ends.”

Northwestern’s Corey Wootton, who also will be in Indy, is listed at 6-7, 280.

But Geathers, projected by most experts to be a late-round pick, knows he can’t just lay down at the combined after he steps on the scale and is measured.

“You can have the great frame, but if you don’t have the athletic ability, then you won’t make it anywhere,” he said.

Spurrier theorized last month that Geathers was influenced by his brother, Cincinnati Bengals DE Robert Geathers Jr., who was a fourth-round pick in 2004 after leaving Georgia a year early. Three years later, the Bengals gave Geathers Jr. a six-year contract extension worth $33.7 million.

“His brother was not projected real high. And got drafted, made the team and has made a lot of money. So when he looks at that, Clifton’s going to say, ‘That’s me right there,’” Spurrier said.

But Geathers said the decision to leave ultimately was his.

“They were a big part of my decision,” he said. “But once again, it was left up to me.”

It’s that “dead time” for college football fanatics – the month or so between Signing Day and spring practice.

A couple of mid-morning links to help get you through another surprising cool day in the Midlands:

–Tom Dienhart of Rivals.com ranks USC’s Shawn Elliott as the top offensive line coach hired in the offseason. Dienhart calls Elliott, a Camden native who had spent his entire coaching career at Appalachian State, an “underrated hire” and mentioned the Mountaineers’ potent rushing attack.

(Incidentally, I was in Boone over the weekend. Elliott will be doing a lot less shoveling. Unlike Columbia, the snow in the mountains is not gone the next day.)

–In an interview with ESPN’s Shelley Smith, Southern Cal coach Lane Kiffin said his family received death threats the night he left Tennessee and that three Knoxville police officers had to be stationed outside his house.

–The Atlanta Journal-Constitution caught up with Gamecocks’ All-American LB Eric Norwood as the Atlanta-area native prepares for next week’s NFL Combine in Indy.

Though Norwood is viewed as a second- or third-rounder, former USC defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix predicted Norwood would be a great special teams player at the next level.

“He’ll be a guy who will play for an extended period of time because he can do so many things well,” Nix told the AJC. “An outstanding effort guy and he’ll make plays. He’ll show up on SportsCenter in the top plays.”

–For anyone who didn’t see the post on gogamecocks, Victor Hampton has been re-assigned to an alternative school in Darlington. Hampton will be able to earn his diploma from Darlington High, which keeps him on track grades-wise to make it to USC this summer.

But he’s not entirely out of the woods. The former Charlotte Independence player has not yet made the necessary test score, although he recently re-took the SAT.

Then there is the matter of a transcript that includes stops at five different schools in two states. After the diploma mills/prep schools scandal in 2006, the SEC enacted legislation calling for schools to tighten their admission procedures.

Among the stipulations, the SEC told its schools that the transcripts of athletes who attended multiple high schools should be red-flagged and subject to further scrutiny.

Not saying Hampton won’t make it to USC; just saying he has a couple more hurdles to clear. …

–Spoke to Ellis Johnson yesterday after the board of trustees approved his new four-year, $2.8 million deal – worth $400,000 more than the package Tennessee offered him.

(Eric Hyman’s response on the escalating salaries for SEC defensive coordinators: “My wife said I should have stayed in coaching.”)

But Johnson wanted to talk more about the length of the deal than the dollar figures. With the extension, both Johnson and Steve Spurrier are under contract through the 2013 season. (Spurrier can retire at any time without penalty, although he collects a $1 million longevity bonus if he remains at USC through the ’12 season.)

And while Spurrier has been reluctant to label the Gamecocks contenders in the East next season, Johnson said he believes USC is on the verge of doing some big things. …

–Coaches always use spring practice to evaluate young players. But with four defensive starters coming off surgeries, Johnson will have no choice but to go with a youth movement this spring.

Johnson said free safety Chris Culliver had shoulder surgery following the season. It is the second shoulder procedure for Culliver, who was re-injured against Tennessee and seemed to be affected by it the rest of the season.

Defensive end Cliff Matthews also had shoulder surgery, while defensive tackle Travian Robertson and middle linebacker Rodney Paulk underwent knee surgeries during the fall.

Johnson said none of them would participate in spring practice, but would be ready for the season.

How confident is Johnson that Paulk will return to form after sitting out almost all of the past two seasons?

He plans to move Shaq Wilson, who took over in the middle after Paulk went down in the N.C. State opener, to Eric Norwood’s former spot at weakside backer.

Johnson said he also is excited about getting his first look at LB Toquavius Gilchrist, a JUCO transfer who enrolled at USC in January. …

All for now. Enjoy the snow.

Besides the expected moves – the approval of contracts for football assistants Ellis Johnson and Shawn Elliott – there was some lively discussion concerning the debt USC is taking on as it moves forward with athletics director Eric Hyman’s master facilities plan.

First, the contracts:

–Johnson, the assistant head coach for defense, received the two-year extension and raise that had been widely reported. Johnson’s new 4-year deal is worth $700,000 a year, twice what he made previously.

ISP Sports, USC’s media rights-holder, is picking up the tab for the extra $350,000.

USC athletics director Eric Hyman said it was a “counter-offer” after another SEC school offered Johnson its defensive coordinator’s post. A source close to the football program said new Tennessee coach Derek Dooley offered Johnson a 3-year deal worth $800,000 annually to run the Vols’ defense.

Johnson’s buyout terms also changed. In the event he is fired without cause (i.e., Steve Spurrier leaves in the next two or three years), USC is required to offer Johnson a position in the athletics department at the same $700,000 compensation package.

If Johnson turns that down, USC would owe him only $350,000 per year for the remainder of his contract. If Johnson leaves, he would owe USC $700,000 per year, unless he takes a head-coaching position.

–Elliott received a 2-year deal. The former Appalachian State assistant receives $150,000 the first year; $165,000 the second.

His buyout is more standard for assistants: The school would owe him his salary for each year left; he would owe USC $25,000 per year.

As for the debt discussion, the executive committee approved $71 million in athletic revenue bonds for the next phase of facilities construction – the re-fitting of the Farmers Market (which USC takes ownership of this summer), and the new tennis facility, coaches/administrative building, parking garage and infrastructure at the Athletics Village Formerly Known as The Roost.

Longtime trustee Eddie Floyd cast the lone dissenting vote. Floyd said he was concerned about the escalating debt and also questioned whether all the projects would help recruiting – a central theme in Hyman’s facilities’ pitch.

Hyman pointed to USC’s increased revenue stream through the SEC’s new TV deals. USC expects to receive $17 million from the SEC this year.

The new bonds will take USC’s athletic debt to $136.7 million – under the school’s $200 million ceiling but pushing the limits of Hyman’s “comfort level.”

In other matters, Hyman said:

–Dodie Anderson, who gave between $5 million and $6 million for the new academic center that bears her name, has pledged an additional $1 million for new locker rooms – men’s and women’s – at Colonial Life Arena.

Hyman said Anderson wanted to do something for Darrin Horn’s and Dawn Staley’s programs.

–An outside PR agency determined that USC’s win over No. 1 Kentucky last month generated $588,447 in publicity for the Gamecocks. USC did not pay for the study.

–The fall GPA for the athletic department was 3.126.

USC released more details on fall grades Thursday afternoon. Thirteen of 17 teams eclipsed the 3.0 mark, while football (2.695), men’s soccer (3.484) and men’s track (3.205) achieved their highest GPAs on record.

–All of the Gamecocks’ head coaches are now members of the Gamecock Club.

The USC signee, who was arrested for underage drinking Friday after taking brandy to Darlington High, likely faces re-assignment to Darlington’s alternative school as a result of his arrest.

He’ll have a disciplinary hearing in the next week or two.

If he gets shipped to the Darlington County Intervention School, he can still get his diploma from Darlington High, which is critical in staying on track to be eligible.

But Hampton has other hurdles to clear: He has yet to make the necessary test score to qualify.

The legal ramifications seem pretty clear cut: The 17-year-old Hampton has a bench trial set for Wednesday in Darlington city court. He could request a jury trial, which would push things back.

Or he could plead guilty, pay a fine, surrender his license and have the matter resolved.

Steve Spurrier has yet to comment on Hampton’s situation, and likely won’t this week. USC media relations director Steve Fink said Spurrier is out of the office.

Given his history, Spurrier would likely say USC planned to wait for the legal process to play out before making any decisions.

Taken alone, the underage drinking charge would not be a deal-breaker. Yes, Hampton exercised extremely poor judgment – as he admitted in a statement released last week through his mentor/attorney – in taking liquor to school. But it is not anything too egregious.

The issue for Hampton is what appears to be a pattern of behavior. The defensive back attended three schools before enrolling at Darlington last fall – and left all of them under shaky circumstances.

Hampton has one prior arrest – a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge from 2008 he says was dropped. He says most of his problems at his other schools involved fights or a general attitude problem with respect to coaches.

He had been doing well in Darlington before Friday’s incident, according to coaches and administrators at the school. Cheveron Scott, the Darlington lawyer with whom Hampton lives, encouraged Hampton to smile more often after he moved from Charlotte last summer.

Talking to folks at USC, it seems the school will stick with Hampton, assuming he makes his test score and keeps his nose clean the rest of the school year.