Muschamp gave him a chance few coaches did. He’s helping the Gamecocks now
The coaches recruiting William & Mary transfer tight end Nick Muse all had long term plans for him. He’s a transfer, he had two years left. That’s often a lookahead situation.
South Carolina’s Will Muschamp was the outlier. That spoke to Muse.
“All the other coaches I went and saw, all the other visits I took they were like, you know, you’ll sit out a year and then you’ll play,” Muse said. “Coach Muschamp said, ‘heck no.’ I want you to play if you can play. Eventually that worked out and ever since then, he’s head over heels going on behind me, without a doubt.”
That backing came before the Gamecocks desperately needed Muse’s skills, before the tight end position was reduced to one veteran and a former walk-on offensive lineman.
And it didn’t hurt how Muschamp’s push to get him the NCAA waiver would allow Muse to face his brother Tanner in the Clemson-South Carolina game at year’s end.
But the transition from FCS William & Mary wasn’t completely smooth. He didn’t get the waiver until right before USC’s second game (he watched the opener on his parents’ couch with the family dog). His first catch ended in a fumble, but things stabilized since.
“At the beginning of the year it was more of they were testing me,” Nick Muse said. “Charleston Southern, I did okay. There were some let downs but eventually I got better, got better. I’ve increased my blocking a lot since William & Mary, but I guess my pass catching has gone down, so I’ve been focusing on that. But whatever coach wants me to do I do.”
In seven games, he has 15 catches for 127 yards, both fifth on the team. He had more than 450 yards as a sophomore last season playing lower level teams.
His presence allows South Carolina to roll with more two tight end looks pairing him and Kyle Markway. The team lost Kiel Pollard to a spinal condition in August and later Evan Hinson to a transfer, which had left the position thin.
At 6-foot-5, 232, Nick Muse does a little of everything, catching passes but also getting some work as a primary blocker. He and Markway provide a level of versatility creating wide rushing fronts and threats through the air.
“That really works out because he’ll be the blocking. I’ll do route running,” Nick Muse said. “And then when I get tired or Coach wants to switch it up, we’ll just flip positions.”
That paid off in a big way against Kentucky as USC took advantage of how they aligned their linebacker to repeatedly gash the Wildcats on the ground.
The coach who impressed him so much in the recruiting process acknowledged it wasn’t the easiest spot to be put in.
“He gets thrust into that situation and I’m sure he had some nerves and things that go into playing in your first game in a new situation,” Muschamp said after Nick Muse’s first few weeks playing. “And then really only one full practice week against a really good defensive football team (Alabama). All he’s going to do is continue to get better. He has a great competitive edge. He has a really good skillset for the position and really has a skillset for what we need at the position. We’re very pleased with him.”
Nick Muse is still looking for that first touchdown, but he’s carved out a role on a team seemingly a little short on play-makers. A No. 3 receiver has yet to fully emerge, meaning more opportunities for him to get work.
And in a short time on campus, he’s made a mark. He says he’s grown close with freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski, trying to keep him up through the tribulations of getting thrown into the fire as a young starter.
Muse also brought with him a high level of positivity. This week he talked about where the team was, sitting at 3-5. He pointed out the team was a few breaks, a few non-blown leads or scores off turnovers from maybe being as good as 7-1 and being ranked in the top-20. He also talked about the joy of just being able to get out there at all, something only one coach thought he’d be doing this year.
“I try to look at it positively,” Nick Muse said. “That’s all you gotta have in life is positivity. You can be mad someone has something where you can be grateful for what you got. I mean some people don’t get to play the game.
“At the end of the day you just gotta look forward because ain’t nothing we can do about Florida, ain’t nothing we can do about Tennessee.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 11:25 AM.
