7 connections from state of SC to Monday’s national title game between UGA, Alabama
It won’t take long for college football fans to notice some South Carolina connections in this year’s College Football Playoff national championship game.
Between SEC teams No. 1 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia, Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium will be littered with Palmetto State natives and people with direct ties to the South Carolina Gamecocks and Clemson football programs when the national championship Monday night.
From former USC head coach Will Muschamp to UGA quarterback Stetson Bennett IV’s Gamecock grandfather, here are seven connections to this year’s CFP contenders.
1. Two Muschamps at UGA
In one of the game’s most obvious links for Gamecocks fans, former head coach Will Muschamp moved to Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia after he was fired from the USC job in November 2020.
Muschamp is currently a defensive analyst and moved to an on-field role in August 2021 when Bulldogs’ special teams coordinator Scott Cochran stepped away due to personal reasons. When Cochran returned in October, Muschamp stayed on the field.
Smart said in a statement last December that Muschamp would become UGA co-defensive coordinator alongside Georgia linebackers coach Glenn Schumann once Dan Lanning leaves the position to become head coach at Oregon. Lanning will stay on through the Bulldogs’ national championship appearance.
The former Gamecocks head coach isn’t the only Muschamp around Athens, as his son, Jackson Muschamp, is on UGA’s roster as a quarterback. The younger Muschamp hasn’t played in a game, but the Hammond School product has been with the team since 2020.
2. Columbia native Channing Tindall making an impact
Spring Valley High School alum Channing Tindall cemented a role in Georgia’s vaunted defense as the Bulldogs’ third-leading tackler, with 59 tackles through the 2021 season. He’s also tallied 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble in his senior season.
Tindall was a four-star linebacker, according to the 247Sports Composite, and was the third-best prospect from the Palmetto State in 2018. The 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions gave Tindall a 14.3% chance of picking the Gamecocks out of high school, second to UGA.
3. UGA QB Stetson Bennett’s grandfather was a Gamecock
Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett IV has Gamecock roots. His late grandfather, Richard “Buddy” Bennett, played quarterback for South Carolina from 1958-60 after transferring from — ironically — Stetson University in Florida.
Buddy Bennett found a role in Columbia after Stetson University shut down its football program, and he went on to raise his son, Stetson Bennett III, on the family’s farm in South Georgia. Bennett III, the father of the Bulldogs’ current quarterback, later attended UGA for a pharmacy degree.
Bennett IV found his way to Athens after beginning as a walk-on scout team quarterback in 2017, venturing to junior college in 2019, and landing back at UGA with a scholarship in 2019.
4. Derion Kendrick carves out a role with Bulldogs
Derion Kendrick was named the Orange Bowl’s defensive MVP for his performance in Georgia’s semifinal win over Michigan. The former Clemson Tiger from Rock Hill intercepted the Wolverines twice and tallied a tackle for loss to help the Bulldogs make it to the championship game.
Kendrick was a five-star wide receiver out of South Pointe High School and was the top recruit from South Carolina in the 2018 class. Kendrick transitioned to defensive back at Clemson as a sophomore and succeeded in the new role, but he left Dabo Swinney’s program in February 2021 and was arrested in Rock Hill for unlawful possession of a gun and marijuana charges a couple of weeks later.
Kendrick found a new football home with the Bulldogs in June 2021, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported his charges in Rock Hill were expunged in July.
5. SC Mr. Football Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins plays at Georgia
A four-star defensive lineman and No. 1 player out of South Carolina in 2021, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins committed to the Bulldogs out of Gaffney High School.
Ingram-Dawkins was named 2020 South Carolina Mr. Football and has yet to make a splash at Georgia, though he’s early in his career. He was credited with two tackles, including one for loss, and a pass deflection in a reserve role in UGA’s win over Charleston Southern this season.
6. Alabama assistant Robert Gillespie started career at USC
Robert Gillespie began his 17-year coaching career in Columbia as a graduate assistant during Steve Spurrier’s first year in 2005. He was promoted to running backs coach in 2006 and worked in that position for three years at South Carolina. Gillespie mentored Gamecock great Cory Boyd, who holds the record for the seventh-most rushing touchdowns in USC history.
Gillespie has been at Alabama for one season after working at North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma State and West Virginia, in addition to South Carolina.
7. Palmetto State, Columbia natives line Crimson Tide’s roster
Alabama has six South Carolina natives on its football roster, including local tight end product Charlie Skehan, who walked on to the Crimson Tide’s roster from Columbia’s Cardinal Newman.
Three over Palmetto State natives join Skehan in Alabama’s tight end room, including three-star Robbie Ouzts from Rock Hill. Ouzts was the No. 7 player out of South Carolina in the class of 2021, according to the 247Sports Composite, and played in 11 games in his freshman season. Colin Bryant (Mount Pleasant) and Adam Thorsland (Walhalla) are also on the Crimson Tide’s roster.
Defensively, former four-star lineman Stephon Wynn is an Anderson native who had been offered by the Gamecocks out of IMG Academy. He chose Alabama over 26 offers and rotates along the Crimson Tide’s defensive line. Linebacker Jaylen Moody was a three-star prospect out of Conway in 2018 and has rotated in at linebacker while consistently contributing on special teams.
