Will Muschamp: Gamecocks add a versatile ‘head-butter,’ a smart guy at linebacker
South Carolina returns a lot at linebacker for 2018.
Only Skai Moore departs, leaving four key rotation players and senior Bryson Allen-Williams, who is getting another year after a medical redshirt.
So recruiting was more about adding a little more, and USC got that with a powerfully built player who can go at four spots (and flipped from Florida State), plus another tall player who could develop into a thumper against the run.
Muschamp broke them down below:
Rosendo Louis, Jr., 6-foot-1, 238 pounds, Deerfield Beach, Fla. (Deerfield Beach)
“A guy we identified early in the process. Coach (Jevon) Glenn, his coach down there, is a guy that TRob and I have known for a long time. But, early on, we identified this as being a guy we wanted to have on our football team. He committed to another school, this crazy coaching carousel takes place, and he’s looking for a home. We were able to continue to recruit him. He can play all four linebacker spots. He can play SAM, MIKE, WILL or BUCK. He’s got pass rush ability, but he’s a guy that’s got tremendous upside. He’s a head-butter. I went and watched him play, getting ready for the state playoffs there last year in December down at Deerfield. I left the practice field, looked at T-Rob and said, ‘He’s one of us.’ We’ve been recruiting him since then and we’re very fortunate today that he’s a Gamecock.”
Ernest Jones, 6-foot-2, 218 pounds, Waycross, Ga. (Ware County)
“Ernest is really smart, instinctive, tough, a guy who can make all the calls, and he’s got a tremendous upside moving forward. But he’s going to know about work ethic. He’s going to know about toughness, and that’s exciting to get a guy like that a part of our program. A bigger linebacker. Again, we’re playing more two-back teams, especially in the Eastern Division. We need to get bigger at that position, and certainly Ernest provides that.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2017 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Will Muschamp: Gamecocks add a versatile ‘head-butter,’ a smart guy at linebacker."