Why South Carolina line coach Eric Wolford wants so many centers this fall?

If all goes as planned, junior Donell Stanley will be South Carolina’s starting center this fall, but there will be no shortage of backups.

That’s because of something Gamecocks offensive line coach Eric Wolford as an assistant offensive line coach with the San Francisco 49ers. When Wolford realized in his first pro game that NFL teams have only seven offensive linemen dressed for most games, the importance of versatility was drilled into him.

“I think I owe it to all of my players who play inside to make sure they can snap the football,” Wolford said. “Some day when they’re trying to make a professional football team, they are going to be asked to play multiple positions and the first time they try to do that I don’t want it to be when they’re trying to make a team at the highest level and they’ve never snapped a football in a game or played it in practice.”

Starting guards Zack Bailey and Sadarius Hutcherson and reserves Eric Douglas, Chandler Farrell and Hank Manos all will be able to play center next year if they have to, Wolford said.

“You have to be able to show you’re versatile and that’s my responsibility as a coach while they are here in college to make sure they have a comfort zone,” Wolford said.

This story was originally published March 27, 2018 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Why South Carolina line coach Eric Wolford wants so many centers this fall?."