DQ Smith ready to be the leader of South Carolina’s secondary
Last football season the two leaders of the South Carolina secondary, and arguably the defense as a whole, were Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith.
The two were local kids who stayed home and made an immediate impact from Day 1 for the Gamecocks. But coming into the 2025 season, there’s an Emmanwori-sized hole in the secondary, along with four more NFL-draft-pick-sized-holes, among others.
The shakeup leaves the mantle of the leader of South Carolina’s defense up for grabs. It hasn’t been vacant for long though, as Smith has already taken it upon his shoulders.
“The leadership role definitely changes this year with all the guys we lost to the draft last year,” Smith said. “I’m stepping up to the plate now. I know the history of the DBs that have left the University of South Carolina, that were developed. … and I’m ready for it and I’m ready for the challenge.”
Smith told media members this week that while, sure, being a leader comes naturally when you’re a senior with 34 starts under your belt, it’s still something one needs to put work into. He added that he’s felt he’s had the capability to lead since he was a sophomore after he learned the playbook front to back. Having the knowledge of what’s going on during games has made him gain confidence and become more vocal, he said.
“It’s really the extra effort to do it,” Smith said. “Once you become more confident in the defense you know a lot more, so you can preach to these younger guys what to do. Or just simply just being a leader, because you’ve been there. Coach (Shane) Beamer, he kind of puts it on me a little bit about being more of a leader. Coach [Torrian] Gray as well. So I kind of encourage that to the younger guys and to other guys on the team that’s become leaders as well.”
While South Carolina’s secondary may have taken a hit with the departures of Emmanwori and O’Donnell Fortune, Smith is leading a solid group of returners.
Smith himself racked up 37 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble during his junior season last year. Defensive backs coach Torrian Gray will return talent like Jalon Kilgore and Judge Collier as well as transfer portal additions like Brandon Cisse and Myles Norwood.
“Coach Gray is one of those guys that’s recruiting a lot of guys that’s willing to step up to that challenge,” Smith said. “The guys that’re already there…those guys have been stepping up, have been here for two or more years now. So those guys are definitely gonna step up this year and make plays for us.”
Smith said he’s confident the South Carolina secondary will be able to hold its own again in 2025.
“We all have speed, we’re physical,” Smith said. “Those tangibles that I’m glad we have to make us know that we’re not going to skip a beat. That’s something Coach Gray preaches every day. We have to have that in the secondary and we all have that.”
While South Carolina had the best season of Beamer’s tenure last year, there have been questions surrounding what the Gamecocks’ defense will look like with all the lost talent. Smith stressed at SEC Media Days that last year is last year and the South Carolina defense, and the team as a whole, is coming into 2025 confident.
“Not really focused on last year,” Smith said “ … It’s a new year, new faces, so just going in here with the utmost confidence and balling out.”
This story was originally published July 22, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
