Former South Carolina CB Captain Munnerlyn reacts to son getting Gamecocks offer
Captain Munnerlyn felt old; and, well, who could blame him?
On Monday, South Carolina assistant coach Torrian Gray offered a football scholarship to 6-foot-1, 185-pound defensive back from Mobile, Alabama — a 15-year-old who only recently finished up his first season playing high school football. Like his father over 20 years ago, Captain Munnerlyn Jr. had his offer from South Carolina.
In the last week, Munnerlyn Jr.’s recruitment has exploded as Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma and others have offered the Class of 2029 prospect. And, yes, that has resulted in who knows how many double-takes that result in folks feeling old.
“Some people I’ve seen are like, ‘When did he have him? Was he real young?’” Munnerlyn told The State on Tuesday. “No, I was 23 years old and already in the NFL. ... It made a lot of people realize how time has flown.”
Before playing 10 seasons in the NFL — including seven across two stints with the Carolina Panthers — Munnerlyn was a star cornerback for South Carolina from 2006-08.
Recruited out of Alabama, Munnerlyn’s first offer was from South Carolina, and the Gamecocks were one of the few schools that continued to recruit him hard despite some academic uncertainty. USC head coach Steve Spurrier and assistant Ron Cooper kept calling his house, kept making visits to Mobile, and perhaps most-importantly, kept wowing his mom.
“Man,” Munnerlyn said of Spurrier and Cooper, “they swept my mom off her feet.”
Naturally, Munnerlyn became a Gamecock.
In three seasons at South Carolina, he racked up nearly 100 tackles, five interceptions and was an All-SEC first-team selection as a sophomore. During his final season in college, his position coach was a 31-year-old assistant who transitioned from outside linebackers coach to cornerbacks coach in 2008 — Shane Beamer.
“He taught you a lot, but he let you play football. And he was motivated. He was a great motivator,” Munnerlyn said of Beamer. “For him to offer my son ... the feeling didn’t even feel real at first.”
“There’s another Captain Munnerlyn that has the opportunity to play at the University of South Carolina,” he added. “You know, if everything plays out how it’s supposed to, how I want it to.”
At the moment, Munnerlyn Jr. is living in Alabama with his mother while Munnerlyn Sr. is back in North Carolina, where he is the head coach at Chambers High School while also serving as the defensive coordinator for the Columbus Aviators of the United Football League (UFL).
The plan right now, Munnerlyn Sr. said Tuesday, was to have his son play another season in Alabama then hopefully move to North Carolina and play for him at Chambers.
For now, though, Munnerlyn Jr. sends his dad film every week for them to talk through. And, well, it doesn’t take long to realize father and son are very different on the football field. For starters, the younger Munnerlyn is 6-1, pushing 6-2. His father had a long NFL career at just 5-9. (”The height just skipped me,” Munnerlyn said.)
And then there’s the position. Munnerlyn was a true cornerback. His son played both cornerback and safety as a freshman, but is leaning toward a future at safety because “I like to hit,” Munnerlyn Jr. said.
“That’s really my son’s game,” Munnerlyn said. “He can really cover and he will hit you. I don’t know where he gets the hitting from, but he will knock you out. ... I think when he gets the weights behind him and really learns to play with a low pad level, he’s gonna be crazy good.”
The question then becomes: Would he want to follow in his father’s footsteps and play at South Carolina?
“Of course,” Munnerlyn Jr. told The State. “Just the thought of being able to play in my dad’s shoes (would be cool).”
For his part, Munnerlyn seemed willing to eat a bucket of thumbtacks if it meant his son suited up for his alma mater.
“He always wants to show me that he’s going to be better than me,” Munnerlyn said. “ I wouldn’t think he would shy away from the University of South Carolina because I went there. I think it is probably more enticing.”
Munnerlyn continued: “I feel like if South Carolina do stay on him — with me being right down the street, and if I get opportunity to (coach him) — it would be a no-brainer, to me. They definitely have a shot at him.”
