Gamecocks transfer tight end already an ‘alpha male’ in the room

It’s not yet clear if South Carolina transfer tight end Nick Muse will see the field this season.

But the former William & Mary player is already making his mark behind the scenes for the Gamecocks.

“(The) meeting room is very important to him,” tight ends coach Bobby Bentley said. “That’s where he’s got to be the most competitive and, to be honest with you, he’s probably one of the alpha males in the room. He he stands out. He’s a leader. He is really going to be special.”

Coming from the outer Charlotte area, he was a state champion and picked the Tribe over a set of smaller schools. After two seasons there, including one where he posted more than 450 receiving yards, he chose to come closer to home.

He and the team have said he’ll appeal to play this season, rather than sit out, and he told SportsTalk radio network that part of the appeal will be built around his current major not being offered at his old school.

For a player who posted strong receiving numbers, including 92 yards against Virginia Tech, the plan is to have him first and foremost in the tight end spot that asks for blocking skills.

“He is a guy that, you know, can really be a dominant in-line player with his size and athleticism,” Bentley said.

The in-line tight ends are the ones attached to the formation. They’re required to do more blocking in the run game, operating as the sixth lineman at times, while the H-back is more often working on the move.

So what makes him fit so well there?

“He’s got length, so therefore, you can be the in-line guy that can block that 280-pound, 6-foot-5 defensive end,” Bentley said. “Yet he can still flex out and do some things on the perimeter that you would like to do, too, because we don’t substitute our personnel and we keep our tight end in the game.”

Bentley described that position as fullback, H-back, in-line and wide receiver.

Muse certainly has a history of the toughness to play close to the fray. In high school, he was a productive middle linebacker. And at home, he had an older brother, Clemson safety Tanner Muse, always just a few years older.

“When you think about Nick and you know the way he’s been brought up — tremendous family competitive spirit,” Bentley said. “He’s got a older brother, probably spanked him a little bit growing up and he wants to get up there and beat the big brother there.

“This is a tremendous family. So I’m sure that has a lot to do with it.”

If Nick Muse is eligible this year, he could face off against his brother, now a senior, at least once.

The team will have to wait for that decision, which means Muse will keep working on the field and in that meeting room.

“You kind of just keep him ready,” Bentley said.

This story was originally published August 3, 2019 at 12:16 PM.