Gamecocks land Georgia running back prospect days after he decommits from NC State
South Carolina’s new running backs coach Des Kitchings has his first commit in garnet and black.
Georgia tailback Caleb McDowell announced a public commitment to the Gamecocks on Tuesday, less than a week removed from dropping his verbal pledge to N.C. State. He played for the same high school team as South Carolina safety Jammie Robinson.
He’s the seventh member of the class. McDowell had offers from Cincinnati, Purdue, Colorado and Syracuse, among others. He said his bond with Kitchings was a key part of the draw.
“He had a great influence. Me and Coach Kitchings get along real good. He’s my guy,” McDowell said. “We hit it off from day one. The type of connection we have is rare to find in the recruitment process when you are building connections with the coaches. He’s the type of guy who can stay on the phone and just talk for hours, and not even about football. That’s rare when you’re building a bond with coaches.”
He committed to the Wolfpack on April 15. The Gamecocks offered May 20, and McDowell reopened his recruitment on June 4.
His time on campus was also key.
“Just building a bond with the coaching staff and a few of the players, and really falling in love with the community and the type of system they run up there,” McDowell said. “It’s a chance I really couldn’t miss out on.”
McDowell is rated as the No. 835 player in the country by 247Sports, 60th among running backs and 71st among players in Georgia. At 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, he is considers a three-star prospect.
On film, he showed a blend of speed, toughness and moves. He also plays defense, and showed some willingness to mix it up on that side of the ball.
“They plan to use me in multiple ways,” McDowell said. “They can use me in the backfield as a running back. They feel I can be a return guy on special teams. They might even move me out to receiver a couple of plays to try to get me in open space.”
His full junior year stats were not available, but he did put up a big a big game to close out the regular season with 120 yards and three touchdowns on six carries against Coffee (he also had nine tackles and broke up two passes).
He transferred to Lee County High School from Bainbridge after his sophomore year, when he was the team’s top rusher with 964 yards and 12 touchdowns at 5.2 yards per carry. He backed up now-Florida Gators tailback Dameon Pierce as a freshman.
And he wasn’t even fully used in the backfield last season.
“I was such an important key on defense, and we had a couple of senior running backs,” he said. “And them knowing the type of season that they are planning on me having this year at running back, they really didn’t want to put our game plan out there to allow other coaches to scheme against that. It’s going to be a breakout season.”
The backfield McDowell is set to join should include players such as MarShawn Lloyd, Kevin Harris and Rashad Amos. The Gamecocks will have five scholarship backs this coming season, with only junior college transfer Zaquandre White having fewer than three years of eligibility remaining.
Phil Kornblut contributed
South Carolina’s 2021 class:
▪ QB Colten Gauthier
▪ RB Caleb McDowell
▪ LB Trenilyas Tatum
▪ DB Marcellas Dial
▪ DT Nick Barrett
▪ WR Sam Reynolds
▪ LB Bryce Steele
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 12:12 PM.
