These Gamecock receivers are impressing Justin Stepp with work ethic, attitude
Justin Stepp has been with South Carolina as the new wide receivers coach for a little over four months now, and he’s gotten to work five of the 15 spring football practices the Gamecocks are allowed.
So far, two players have emerged as leaders at his position group.
“The first guy that comes to my mind that’s making a ton of plays and just doing a great job of leading our group is DK (Dakereon Joyner). I mean, just can’t say enough great things about him and how he’s been,” Stepp said Wednesday. “Jalen Brooks, JB, has done an unbelievable job. ...JB and DK, they’re up here every day. They’ll probably beat me. We start watching film at 1 p.m., they’ll probably beat me in there to start watching, and so they’ve done a really good job.”
Other players have done well, too. Stepp mentioned redshirt senior OrTre Smith, sophomore Rico Powers and walk-on Trey Adkins as well when asked who has stood out thus far this spring. But Joyner and Brooks have especially impressed Stepp with their work ethic and attitude.
The Gamecocks will need both players to continue that growth onto the field this fall. In 2020, leading receiver Shi Smith had 57 grabs for 633 yards, more than every other wide receiver on the team combined. Joyner and Brooks combined for 18 catches and 155 yards. With Smith now preparing the for the NFL Draft, South Carolina desperately needs leaders to emerge to fill the hole he left.
“I know a lot of people say it, but it’s really next man up. I mean, there’s enough guys here in this position room that can step up,” Stepp said. “Obviously Shi Smith, he’s an unbelievable player. I watched his pro day. He was an incredible player. I got to watch him on film several times just from watching defenses and watching South Carolina play on offense, but it’s really next man up.
“... I tell my guys every day, you’d be foolish to think that none of us have anything to prove in here. I’m coaching with something to prove, and I want my guys to play with something to prove, and that’s an attitude we bring every day.”
Both Joyner and Brooks have taken unusual paths to get where they are now. Joyner was a four-star recruit out of high school, but at quarterback. He picked South Carolina over some top offers, saying he wanted to stick at QB and Carolina would allow him to do that. But he eventually moved to wide receiver, making a sacrifice for the good of the team.
That team-first mentality is something Stepp has already noticed as well in his tenure.
“The kid has the most unbelievable attitude. He’s a positive kid, loves to be coached, doesn’t mind when you coach him hard. He responds,” Stepp said. “Some guys, you coach them hard and they go away for a couple plays and maybe a couple periods and they never come back. DK, you get him and you coach him and he responds the very next play.
“I love his coachability, I love his attitude. He’s one of those guys, man, when he walks in the room, it makes you feel a little bit better about the day. I have no idea if he was like that in the past or not, but he’s been like that for me, so I tell him every day how much I appreciate him and to lead our group.”
The question now will be whether Joyner can translate that to consistent on-field production. He flashed potential both as a runner and receiver in 2020, scoring impressive touchdowns against Kentucky and Vanderbilt, but he’s only caught 13 career passes and had just one multi-reception game last year.
Brooks, meanwhile, transferred into USC from Tarleton State, a small FCS school where he only spent a semester and never played after starting his career at Division II Wingate. His waiver for immediate eligibility was initially denied by the NCAA, only to be reversed on appeal four games into the season. Facing high expectations to boost the struggling Gamecock attack, though, he struggled himself, only catching a third of his 33 targets and getting credited with six drops, according to SEC Stat Cat.
“You catch the football with your eyes,” Stepp said Wednesday when asked how he coached players to avoid drops. “I tell everybody all the time, if you think you catch the football with your hands, close your eyes and try to catch a football. You can’t do it. You got to look it all the way in, you got to be great with your eyes and you got to concentrate. Every detail matters. You can’t take anything for granted.”
So far this spring, Stepp said, he hasn’t seen Brooks, Joyner or any of his players neglecting those important details or shying away from the work required.
“I can’t say enough about how hard these guys are working. I mean they come in every day and get extra work. They’re gonna have to buy some new JUGS Machine, we’re using the JUGS machine so much,” Stepp said. “And that’s something they want to get. Today, we had an accountability (exercise) after practice, and we had a certain amount of things we had to do after practice, and they said, ‘Hey coach let’s do 20 more,’ and that came from them.”
This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 7:58 AM.
