South Carolina’s coaches had a pretty solid showing on the APR data for head coaches released by the NCAA on Thursday.
The NCAA has tracked APR (Academic Progress Rate) scores for schools since 2003-04, but this is the first time they have attached the data to specific coaches.
The idea is to make coaches more accountable, and create an online database to help recruits, administrators and the public keep tabs on how a coach stacks up academically. The scores will follow a coach who changes schools.
A perfect score is 1,000; teams scoring below 925 are subject to potential penalties. There are no penalties currently associated with the head coach APR scores, although the NCAA said it could do so in the future.
The first batch of single-year APR scores includes coaches from six sports: football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and women’s indoor and outdoor track. Next year’s data will include coaches from all sports.
As for the Gamecocks’ coaches, Steve Spurrier was above the average for Division I football teams in two of his first four full years at USC. Spurrier’s worst score was an 895 in 2004-05, when he had to boot several players and lost others to attrition after taking over for Lou Holtz.
Darrin Horn had an 848 in 2003-04 at Western Kentucky, but his only other year below 950 was 2007-08. That was another ‘lost in transition’ situation when the Gamecocks had a single-year APR of 917 as Horn replaced Dave Odom.