When USC fired Will Muschamp, RJ Roderick opted out. Here’s why he came back
R.J. Roderick couldn’t stop worrying about the future. He worried about his falling grades, about COVID-19 and the nagging hip pointer injury that made it painful for him to play.
Then South Carolina fired football coach Will Muschamp — the coach who had recruited him — and Roderick decided to step away from the game altogether.
The Gamecock safety from Summerville opted out last November, midway through his junior season, and turned his attention toward himself. The NCAA and schools allowed such a move during the pandemic while preserving his scholarship and eligibility.
Months later, Roderick is back in garnet and black, rejoining the team for spring practice under a new coaching regime. On Monday, Roderick spoke to reporters for the first time since he opted out, explaining what it was like to spend those months away from football.
“It was hard, just dealing with it, just still watching my boys play, watching football period,” Roderick said. “But I just spent that time committing myself to working harder, bringing my grades up, making sure that I stay eligible, making sure that my grades are good, to make my mom proud. So I just focused on making myself better in different areas, as well, just to kind of take my head off of it.
“I mean, it’s depressing just to not be able to play football. So I’m appreciative that I’m here and that spring has started and just loving everything.”
Losing Muschamp and defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson took a mental toll on Roderick, who said he still talks with both, calling Robinson a mentor both on and off the field. But Roderick also had familiarity with new head coach Shane Beamer, who recruited him while he was an assistant coach at Georgia.
Shortly after he was hired, Beamer sat down with Roderick and his mother to gauge Roderick’s interest in returning to the team. Beamer did the same with others who opted out, including wide receiver OrTre Smith.
“We welcome them back with open arms if they wanted to be here, which they did, and they’ve been fantastic,” Beamer said of Roderick and Smith. “I remember going into both their high schools and I was coaching at Georgia, and we were recruiting both those guys and so I’ve known of them obviously for a long time. And they’ve been great the way they’ve worked in the weight room and handled their business on and off the field. And from everything I can tell, the dynamic with their teammates has been awesome also.”
Roderick said Beamer is the same family-oriented person he was when they met years ago, the kind of person that “when he tells you something, you can really take it to the bank.” And that comfort level played a factor in Roderick’s return.
The Gamecocks sorely need experience in their secondary, which lost stud corners Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu to the NFL and a handful of defensive backs to the transfer portal. Though the hip pointer limited his effectiveness last season, Roderick projects to be a key member in new defensive coordinator Clayton White’s 4-2-5 defense.
Roderick said he’s worked at both safety positions and noted that White’s defense gives safeties more responsibility in the running game and more flexibility in the passing game. He said he’s having fun being back on the football field and helping the young players along. And though his hip injury still requires treatment and monitoring, he said he’s grateful just to be able to play again.
“I don’t necessarily feel like I have to prove anything to anybody but myself, just because I put that target on my back as far as I know I made that decision for myself and I had to work myself back from that,” Roderick said. “One thing that I learned about myself is that I can’t be without football — no matter what.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 9:05 AM.
