What held back one of South Carolina’s top signees last year — and what has changed
Freshmen play often for the South Carolina football team under coach Will Muschamp.
This has been a given across four seasons. Muschamp has rarely been shy about throwing a first-year player into the fire. But last year, some of his top recruits didn’t play, including four-star cornerback Cam Smith. The tall, Columbia-area product was the No. 4-rated player in his class by the 247Sports Composite rankings, but he hardly saw the field.
Early in spring practice, Muschamp explained the key reason why he wasn’t able to get more snaps.
“Cam was a freshman. He needed to get a lot stronger,” Muschamp said. “Athletically, he runs extremely well. He’s got great change of direction. He has really good instincts on the back end, but just the wear and tear of the season wore down on him.”
On the field during warmups before games, Smith appeared to be on the skinny side.
He ended up only playing in three games, with just about no time on defense in two of them. He did make six tackles late in a blowout of Charleston Southern.
He came to USC as the No. 150 player in the country. At 6-foot tall, he had the length the staff wants, and he’s added weight since last season.
“He’s done a nice job in the offseason program, getting stronger,” Muschamp said. “That was something we really challenged him with. And he’s, as far as what we want at the position, what you want.”
What role he might have this season remains to be seen. The Gamecocks have a solid pair of corners in Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu.
They have more questions at nickel and safety where R.J. Roderick and Jammie Robinson can play multiple spots. But in Muschamp’s defense, most players can play multiple positions. If someone such as Smith or fellow second-year corner Johnny Dixon could emerge, someone could shift elsewhere. (Mukuamu is listed as a possible safety in his roster bio and Horn has played every spot in the secondary at some point.)
In any case, the Gamecocks haven’t had much reliable depth in any of Muschamp’s seasons, so at worst, Smith could give some of his older teammates some series off. To get to that point, he’ll have to develop, and he’ll have that chance for the month of spring ball coming up.
“Now he’s just got to get turns and reps and play,” Muschamp said. “That’s what he’s doing right now.”
