Steve Spurrier’s official site (spurrierhbc.com) is reporting that South Carolina will hire former Georgia defensive coordinator Brian Van Gorder. A press conference is set for this afternoon.

Brian Van Gorder will be announced as the new defensive coordinator for the University of South Carolina in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. Van Gorder, most recently a linebackers’ coach with the Atlanta Falcons, held the defensive coordinators’ postion with the University of Georgia from 2001-2004. Video from Coach Steve Spurrier will be available this afternoon.

I’m sure Spurrier appreciates the chance to tweak the Dawgs while getting himself a capable coordinator. Van Gorder left Georgia in pursuit of a head coaching opportunity after the 2004 season, and the quest has taken him to the Jacksonville Jaguars, to Georgia Southern, to the Atlanta Falcons, and now back as an SEC coordinator in Coulmbia.

No doubt the Chicken Littles and Willie Martinez detractors out there will declare this move as a death knell for the Dawgs, but it’s setting up as a rather interesting experiment. Much of the Martinez vs. Van Gorder discussion centers around the talent level of the Georgia defense from 2002-2004. South Carolina will have an adequate level of defensive talent, but it won’t be on the same level as what Van Gorder had at Georgia. I guess we finally will get to see how much of Van Gorder’s genius was coaching and how much of it was right-place-right-time.