He wanted to leave the Gamecocks. Will Muschamp helped him with his next step

Jerad Washington found himself in a spot more than a few college football players will.

He’d played football at South Carolina for three seasons. He’s been hurt, a broken leg his first season, never seen the field as other receivers took bigger roles. So he decided he wanted to go a different direction.

Simple as that.

“I was closer to graduation,” Washington said. “I wanted to go to grad school; and talking to my parents, my mom just felt like it would be great to have a diverse background. So I was thinking about transferring, and everything played out in a great way.”

But before he left, he got a request from his coach.

Will Muschamp inherited Washington from the previous staff. He had him around the program for two years.

“I went to talk to Muschamp about it,” Washington said. “He was like, ‘I understand your decision. I’m glad you’re OK with that.’ But he was like, ‘What I want you to do, I would like you to graduate first, make sure you get your academics, all that.’ Talked through the process. He was very understanding about the whole situation.”

Washington walked at graduation this past spring, just before one May class to finish his degree in sports management in seven semesters. He recently landed at Jacksonville State in Alabama, where former teammate Shaq Davidson plays.

Washington wanted some playing time, the chance to get back on the field. He was a three-star recruit out of the Jacksonville, Fla area.

He said he left USC thanking the school for everything it did for him. He also thanked Muschamp for helping him get a start on his next step.

“Coach Muschamp did a great job in helping me figure out maybe what school, academics I would like to figure out, some of the places I might get a lot more playing time,” Washington said. “Worked out perfect.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2018 at 8:21 AM.