South Carolina’s plan for Dakereon Joyner, and how he’s taking change in circumstance
Dakereon Joyner stood amidst the crowd of microphones and cameras seemingly at ease.
There had been a shakeup of South Carolina’s quarterback situation. Fourth-year starter Jake Bentley is out for half the season or more. Ryan Hilinski, who beat Joyner for the No. 2 spot, is set to start this weekend. Joyner, whose loss in that battle spurred transfer speculation and had him splitting time at wide receiver, is now one play away from starting.
But these changes, seemingly seismic for a program, aren’t much of a difference for him.
“I never stopped taking reps at quarterback,” Joyner said. “I’m just here to be the best teammate possible.”
Even when he helped out at receiver, playing 16 snaps and catching a couple balls, he knew he was still in part a passer, same as he did last spring when he said he didn’t come to Columbia to leave that position.
When he lost the job to a younger player, it put him in a difficult position. Reflecting on it, he said his response was to congratulate Hilinski, accept what happened and move forward.
“I’m a very positive guy, man,” Joyner said. “I feel like everything happens for a reason. ... I’m here to play the best role, you know, and whatever my coaches you want me to do, that’s what I’m gonna do. If that’s me being versatile too, it is what it is.”
He said even after the Jake Bentley news, he and Hilinski, who battled all offseason, still work to hold each other accountable.
In the modern world of quarterback, setbacks such as Joyner’s often end in transfers. Only one player can see the field, and it’s hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Instead of giving into that, Joyner embraced what was asked of him. He played receiver for a week and a half, the first time he’d ever been in that role, and said he had fun trying it for the first time (His message about blocking for the first time: “If you’re in front of me, you’re going to get it.”)
Muschamp didn’t want to bunch together all transfers, but he liked what Joyner showed through this process.
“The thing that I can tell you about Dakereon, I know he loves the University of South Carolina, he loves being here,” Muschamp said. “He loves his teammates, his teammates love him. And you know, I appreciate his character. I appreciate his perseverance through a very difficult time. A difficult decision for everybody. And and I told I told him, just trust us and and we’ll move forward in the right direction and do what’s best for you and the team moving forward. Let’s give this thing a fall. He’s been nothing but great, but that’s who he is.”
Muschamp said although he’ll step into the No. 2 QB spot, they play to work him in at receiver as well and have him work there some during practice.
Joyner was a four-star recruit out of high school, nearly a 10,000-yard passer who ran for 1,000 yards twice and nearly did it a third time. He went 40-3 as a starter and won a state title as a sophomore.
He couldn’t have known how things would fall, that weeks after getting bad news, the team would ask more of him again. But his approach led to this different position. It’s not easy it’s happening because a teammate got hurt, but Joyner approached it with a simple mindset.
“Next man up, you know,” Joyner said. “It is what it is. Injuries happen. I’m sorry it happened to Jake. He’s definitely one of our leaders. definitely a guy everybody looked up to.”