A few snaps to a big role: USC’s T.J Brunson ready for next step

A year ago, South Carolina linebacker T.J. Brunson made a point of becoming a constant presence around one of his older teammates.

He was the new face in an experienced room. He needed to soak some of that in.

“I followed Jon Walton around a lot,” Brunson said. “He gave me pointers and tips and helped me understand things that didn’t click easily for me.”

That was a luxury afforded to last year’s T.J. Brunson, a freshman trying to pick up the college game and playing only a short drive from home in Northeast Columbia. This year’s Brunson finds himself in a different spot.

Right in the middle of the rotation.

After the Gamecocks lost three key linebackers to graduation and another two to transfers, they come into the spring with only three scholarship players at the position. That in theory makes Brunson the top backup at the moment, though the spot is somewhat flexible as the staff wants to use Bryson Allen-Williams in several spots and Skai Moore will be going through his first practices since the end of 2015.

This for someone who played maybe 40-50 snaps on defense last season.

Brunson said the role isn’t one that exactly surprises him, but he prepared last season for the task at hand.

“I wanted to do whatever I could do to help the team,” Brunson said. “That was, for me, to learn special teams. That’s what I was going to do. Now that I’m in the position I’m in, I feel very comfortable.”

His goal going into the offseason was primarily about getting bigger, along with understanding the full scale and moving parts of the defense. On that first front, he’s already impressed someone whose opinion carries weight.

“T.J. Brunson has changed his body and continued to do some really good things for us as a true freshman at linebacker,” Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said. “He needs to continue to take the next step.”

The next few weeks will be the biggest chance to take that step, as competition will be coming soon. The Gamecocks have a class of four linebackers coming in, bringing speed and athleticism.

But for the moment, he’s the No. 3 guy on a defense that plays two and likes to rotate. He got his feet wet in 2016, working at the back end of a deep group, and the next step is graduation from following around an older teammate to be the sort young Gamecocks are compelled to follow.

“He did a great job of getting comfortable with the scheme,” said South Carolina linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler. “This spring is going to be huge for him. He’s got to continue to progress when it comes to the mental side of things and understanding both the Mike and the Will position for us. But he gets better every day. He’s a highly motivated kid and should develop into a leader for us.”

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 2:24 PM with the headline "A few snaps to a big role: USC’s T.J Brunson ready for next step."