Why this Gamecock wants teammates to follow his footsteps

Two seasons ago, South Carolina linebacker T.J. Brunson found himself in a kind of freshman-year middle ground.

He was the fourth linebacker on a team that relied heavily on three playing two spots. He got a handful of snaps, but also got to experience college football first-hand. Then he took the step in 2017 to become a starting-level player who had 88 tackles.

Opportunities of that scale might not be available to them, but USC has several young linebackers who could follow his path from playing a little in year one to a bigger impact in year two. Sherrod Greene and Eldridge Thompson were in the mix behind Brunson and Skai Moore, with a rotating cast of other linebackers.

As the 2017 season wound down, Brunson saw the change from his young teammates.

“It’s almost night and day,” Brunson said. “Just how fast they picked everything up and how they’ve become adjusted to the scheme and everything. I remember being in their shoes. I think everyone does. Everything is really fast, there’s a lot going on. But our guys have really picked it up and they’re looking good.”

Greene ended his season with 22 tackles, even starting some games with USC’s revolving door at outside linebacker. Thompson had 10 tackles and added something in terms of coverage, playing just short of 10 percent of the defensive snaps.

Thompson came in as a former safety, whose junior college coach said he had a high ceiling as a space linebacker. Greene had a reputation as a thumper, and had the attention of the staff early.

And getting their feet wet paid off.

“They’ve definitely grown,” Brunson said. “They’ve been playing a lot and understanding everything. Once you get the coaches’ trust, I think everything takes care of itself.”

The challenge going into the spring will be where things settle out in terms of a rotation and positions with Moore headed to the NFL.

Brunson is back in the middle. Veteran Bryson Allen-Williams projects to spend a fair amount of time at Moore’s weakside spot. Coming up, they’ll have to hold off second-year players Davonne Bowen, Damani Staley, plus incoming freshmen Ernest Jones and Rosendo Louis.

There will be a lot of competition at those spots to say the least (especially with as much nickel as USC plays), but Brunson had some tips for the players who worked behind him.

“Study, talk to the coaches, they’ll definitely get you in the right spot,” Brunson said. “The analysts and everyone here ... just take advantage of what you have.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2018 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Why this Gamecock wants teammates to follow his footsteps."