One Gamecock thought he might change positions, so he started getting ready early
South Carolina’s Jahmar Brown had an inkling about a possible position change nearly a year before it happened.
The sophomore linebacker from Miami was always a little on the smaller side. So before he came to campus, he talked to his trainer, Chris Scott, about working on that part of his game.
“He actually wanted to work on his versatility,” Scott said, “just in case they tried to use him in space as a linebacker.”
That came to pass this offseason, when South Carolina’s staff decided to try out the speedy and versatile linebacker at safety, a position that has proven to be a tricky one for the Gamecocks to fill in recent years.
Brown went back to South Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic. He’d bulked up heading into his first year on campus, but has since slimmed down a little. And he got to work with Scott figuring out the finer points of his new position.
“We just went through a series of preparations each day,” Scott said. “With just working on different ankle mobility, just to get his speed back up and working on more hip mobility, so just a different amount of drills that I would see that the USC safeties would do.”
Scott said he watched some of South Carolina’s defensive back drills to get a sense of what they were asking Brown to do.
It also helped to have a little guidance from someone who starred in South Carolina’s secondary and used that a first step to playing with one of the best teams in the NFL.
Rashad Fenton is one of Scott’s other clients. Fenton was a backup in Steve Spurrier’s final year on campus and was moved into the starting lineup in Will Muschamp’s first year. He broke up 24 passes and picked off five in those three seasons.
Since then, Fenton was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs and earned a Super Bowl ring this past winter.
“I brought Jahmar in with Rashad just so he could get that big-brother feel,” Scott said. “Rashad could kind of tell him the ins and outs of what would work for him if he was in the game, being an older guy. Just so he could kind of get that mind-set a little bit earlier on versus later on.”
The 6-foot-1 Brown was a heady and versatile defender on the high school level, working at under 200 pounds. He’s about at 215 now, and getting the hang of playing in space. That’s a body type for safety or smaller linebacker, Scott said.
Last season, he had only eight tackles and was slowed late by an injury, but he did have a few flash plays, including a forced fumble.
He’ll be competing with the likes of RJ Roderick, Jammie Robinson, Shilo Sanders, Jaylin Dickerson and freshman Joey Hunter. The staff used Robinson at the nickel last year and it would make sense to keep him there if enough trusted safeties can be found.
Brown also projects to play the “dime” linebacker spot some, which is to say he’d play alongside one inside linebacker and five other defensive backs, giving the Gamecocks a versatile look on defense.
“I just wanted him to be more comfortable in this situation,” Scott said. “He was a little stiff at first with some of the things I was asking him to do as far as him opening up to the field side and then flipping his hips, working back, breaking on the post or a corner. His hips were a little tight, but then after the second week he started really getting more comfortable, really starting to understand what I was asking him to do.”
Some players struggle with seeing what’s being asked in that spot, but Brown’s intelligence for the game helped him there.
Scott is no stranger to the Carolinas himself. He said he went to college at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte and started working with athletes there. After a year, he returned to his hometown in Miami. He said he has worked with pros such as Marcus Peters (Baltimore Ravens), George Fant (New York Jets), Frank Gore and Shaq Thompson (Carolina Panthers).
Scott said he spoke to Brown recently about his position change and what it has been like. There’s a long way to go toward an uncertain season, but he’s taking to the new spot.
“I called him, just asking how’s everything going?” Scott said. “(He said,) ’I’m fitting in really well. I’m adjusting to everything that they’re asking.’ I think his biggest thing is he’s just a smart football player, so coverage schemes and different assignments that he would do at safety, just catching on to that really well.”
