Gamecocks safety DJ Smith aims to hold onto starting role

There’s no frustration for D.J. Smith.

The South Carolina safety saw his only start of 2015 end quickly, as he hardly played after the Gamecocks defense let up a pair of scores. His spring practice was cut short by a thumb injury that forced surgery two weeks in.

But with opportunity ahead of him, it wasn’t that hard.

“I was a sophomore,” Smith said. “I was just happy I was playing to be honest. I didn't really worry about anything anybody else was saying, but focusing on myself. So that really didn't affect me that much.”

Early in fall camp, he was running with the first team at safety, aiming to help replace the graduated Isaiah Johnson and shore up a secondary in the midst of a two-year funk. He played the first half of spring practice hurt before getting sidelined and still wears a brace after a summer of rehab.

But that didn’t mean he was down and out.

“I'm still in every single meeting and everything,” Smith said. “Only thing that really held me back was lifting weights. Just the physical stuff that they do, I couldn't do with my hand. So I would do everything else. I don't really think it held me back.”

The former four-star prospect isn’t the biggest safety at 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, but he’s got speed and has shown some flashes. He had 22 tackles, 18 solo, in 2015, after 11 the year before.

Although he went through the spring banged up, he did make an impression on his position coach, head man Will Muschamp, partially with how versatile he could be.

“I think he can be an emergency corner,” Muschamp said. “He's got some coverage ability on the outside if we had to. But again, (he’s) very intelligent. I think the biggest thing I've challenged D.J. going into camp is just consistency in his performance

“One mistake back there is not good.”

That will be especially true with the projected changes the Gamecocks will have for the safety position. Ex-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke liked to play his safeties deep and splitting the back end of the field in two.

Players said they expect they’ll be more aggressive: more man coverage, more time out on slot receivers, more rolling down into the box.

Smith had two weeks to just sit back on the sidelines, watch what the defense is supposed to do and learn the ins and outs. Now with a very likely role as a starter, he’ll have to put it to use.

“I noticed that they want us to know what we're doing,” Smith said. “So for the most part, just know what you're doing and know the defense front and back. If you perform and produce, then you're going to play.”

This story was originally published August 9, 2016 at 4:38 PM.