Gamecocks’ Ulric Jones ready to settle in on defense in 2016

Ulric Jones just wanted to find a permanent home.

At 6-foot-6 and 295 pounds, coaches saw a range of different spots he could contribute. He came out of Kansas Community College power Butler as a defensive end, and after a roundabout path, has seemingly at defensive tackle at the end of spring practice.

But there was no straight path.

“It’s been a long journey,” Jones said. “I can adapt wherever. Coach asks me to play offense, I’ll play offense. Coach asks me to play defense, I’ll play defense. It’s a great experience for me. Learned a lot of things playing both sides of the ball. Defensive tackle and end, offensive tackle, tight end. Just trying to be a great versatile player, so just doing whatever they need me to do.”

Jones redshirted in 2015. He began on defense, then midway through the year switched over to offense.

Then South Carolina got a new staff led by Will Muschamp, and it’s back to the side where he had 43 tackles and 3 1/2 sacks in his final junior college season. And while the one-time Mississippi State commit from Oxford, Ala., accepted the role on offense, his heart resides elsewhere.

“I love defense,” Jones said. “I love to be disruptive, but like I said, I just do what our coaches ask me to do to make plays.”

Plays are what South Carolina needs from its defensive front this fall. Last year, the Gamecocks ranked 90th or worse in terms of how often they got to the quarterback or stuffed running plays.

Starting tackle Dante Sawyer missed the spring, and Jones was one of four tackles rotating with the top few groups. He’s also caught the eye of coaches.

“Ulric has done some nice things as far as giving us some snaps inside,” Muschamp said. “Another guy that can give you some length and some push in the pocket, which I think, again, he did some nice things Saturday (at the spring game).”

He’ll have two more years to make his mark. He hopes to find a place to settle, because life on the move isn’t always easy.

“It could be a bit frustrating, because you know you’ve got to learn different things,” Jones said. “Different techniques, more plays on both sides of the ball. But it’s a great experience for me.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Gamecocks’ Ulric Jones ready to settle in on defense in 2016."