Going forward, what South Carolina will be looking for in its running back recruits
There are some things a college football staff can’t see on recruiting tape. Others are pretty obvious.
Incoming South Carolina running backs coach Des Kitchings looks for a full picture of a player. Mental toughness is key, but that’s something a coach finds out by talking to those around him and getting to work hands on.
But Kitchings also looks for one skill that’s pretty easy to measure.
“Bottom line as a runner back, his objective is to score touchdowns,” Kitchings said. “You know if a kid struggles to do that in high school, he’s not gonna be able to do it in college. So he has to be a guy that has the ability to do that. In a college, running back is the strength part of an offense.”
He pointed to two attributes, tackle-breaking and generating explosive plays, that have been spots coach Will Muschamp found lacking at points in his time in Columbia. With an ever-evolving backfield, Muschamp at times in early 2018 lamented the lack of play generation from his crew of tailbacks.
Kitchings’ experience working with running backs has been well-documented, with three consecutive 1,000-yard runners at N.C. State and one prolific back at Air Force. But he also has a strong resume in terms of bringing in backs.
By 247Sports’ records, he’s listed as the recruiter of record for four four-star backs between 2015 and 2019, plus three-star Reggie Gallaspy II, who capped his career with an 18-touchdown senior season.
Kitchings also looks for something that demonstrates the will to do a little extra.
“Really love guys that play both sides of the ballm” Kitchings said, “which doesn’t happen as much in high school anymore, but for kids playing both sides of the ball to show they’re ultra competitive. That way, he’s a multi-sport kid, so you can see it compete in a different arena. I think all those things just kind of ties into his intangibles as a player.”
He inherits a group that has seen a lot of turnover, with the top three rushers departing and another senior tailback graduating as well.
His five scholarship backs for 2020 include a pair of returners who had smaller roles last year, plus borderline five-star MarShawn Lloyd, a junior college recruit and another freshman in Rashad Amos. Lloyd is easily the most talented of the backs, and his relative youth wouldn’t give Kitchings much worry.
“I’m not nervous at all, because I’ve had some success in my past of playing true freshmen,” Kitchings siad. “Now the challenge will be this year is just how much time do we have to get them prepared relative to years prior?”
The coronavirus pandemic has prevented players from being on campus, which interrupted the traditional strength-and-conditioning cycle. The coaches are getting more work with players during the week, but have to do all that through Zoom meetings.
When Kitchings joined the staff, South Carolina already had offers out to a slew of tailbacks, though it has not yet secured a 2021 tailback commitment. He said he had not reordered the running back recruiting board at all yet, relying on some of the plans already in place.
“Just really jumping in where it’s established and then seeing if there’s anybody else that I may have known that they didn’t have on the board, to present him,” Kitchings said. “But for the most part, just with the regional ties of who the kids they’ve been recruiting, there was already some familiarity with them.”
