Five observations from South Carolina’s Thursday football practice
South Carolina football opened up the start of practice on a rainy Thursday morning to the media, with the Jerri and Steve Spurrier Indoor Practice Facility crowded with recruits, high school coaches and more.
A few observations:
Recruits aplenty
This was clearly a big day on the recruiting front as multiple high schools were represented. Camden High School brought a large group of players. Some of Gray Collegiate staff was in, including former Gamecocks Adam Holmes and Cory Helms.
Some players of note included Blythewood’s Joshua Burrell, a three-star receiver the Gamecocks have not yet offered, and Colten Gauthier, a Georgia quarterback who had a strong relationship with former quarterbacks coach Dan Werner.
Some other notable faces included Fort Dorchester coach Steve LaPrad, Dakereon Joyner’s high school coach; Reed Charpia, a former coach and grandfather of a Gamecocks walk-on who shares his name; and Spring Valley’s Robin Bacon.
At one point, staffers were pulling recruits aside and getting such measurements as weight, height and hand size.
In the thick of it
Gamecocks head coach Will Muschamp looked a little extra hands on Thursday in one of the linebacker drills. He was in the thick of it, leading things and getting in the face of a player or two when the situation called for it.
One of the drills had them working under a screen netting, crouched down and working their feet over bags.
The group of linebackers he was working with included Damani Staley, Ernest Jones, Sherrod Greene, Noah Vincent and Darryle Ware.
A different look
Early on there was one drill where quarterbacks were working on under-center handoffs with running backs. When it came time for fullback Adam Prentice’s rep, he usually motioned as a tight end and then came across the “formation” into a flat route. Later during shotgun handoffs, Prentice would slip down for quick dump-off passes.
High and tight
Later in the open periods, the QBs and tight ends were working on what looked like dig routes and later corner routes. Of note, former offensive lineman Chandler Farrell, who is still working at tight end, had a nice grab down the sideline.
Availability update
▪ In terms of injuries and availability, linebacker Jahmar Brown, running back Kevin Harris and safety R.J. Roderick were still not out in the main practice group. Roderick has been dealing with a hamstring issue. Safety/nickel Jammie Robinson and corner O’Donnell Fortune were both in yellow jerseys.
More notes
▪ The atmosphere was definitely on the loose side with one song getting a large cluster of players dancing. That included the main QB group of Ryan Hilinski, Luke Doty, Jay Urich and Connor Jordan.
▪ It was an interesting sight to see Joyner, a quarterback most of his career, lined up as part of the punt coverage team and trying to hold up gunners. Corner Cam Smith also came in as a rusher on that punt drill and had a solid collision with Prentice, who was in protection.
▪ Gamecocks tight end-turned-staffer Kiel Pollard was on crutches and in a walking boot.
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 10:18 AM.
