Donell Stanley's move to middle helps Gamecocks and Stanley

Donell Stanley’s transition to South Carolina’s starting center position took about five practices.

“The first five practices there is always a transition getting used to snapping the football, but he’s done well,” Gamecocks offensive line coach Eric Wolford said.

Stanley, who started 13 games at guard in the last two seasons, takes over a spot that was manned by Alan Knott for the past 42 games. Stanley, a 6-foot-3, 318-pound Floydale native, has played in each of the previous three seasons for South Carolina, but he was able to reclassify as a junior this year after receiving a medical redshirt season for the 2016 year.

“Obviously, last year he was one of our best players up front,” Wolford said. “The guy works hard at the end of the day. It’s important to him. I’m glad he’s on our team. He’s got a bright future.”

Stanley has been practicing snapping the ball in practice for a while now, but adjusting to the different speed of the center position was a challenge early in spring practice, he said.

“You have to snap the ball and then take your steps so you have to do everything so much faster,” he said.

The transition has gone smoothly from quarterback Jake Bentley’s perspective.

“Donnie’s done a great job. He’s picked up where Alan left off,” Bentley said. “Donnie’s a real smart guy and everyone on the team loves him. He’s able to move to center very easily. Snaps have been good, and he’s leading our offensive line right now.”

Wolford trains all of his interior offensive linemen to play center, meaning Zack Bailey, Sadarius Hutcherson, Chandler Farrell, Hank Manos and Eric Douglas all will have the ability to play center in a pinch next year. However, as of now, the job looks like it belongs to Stanley.

“For his career, he’s got to be able to play guard and center if he has aspirations of wanting to play in the National Football League,” Wolford said.

This story was originally published April 4, 2018 at 7:22 PM with the headline "Donell Stanley's move to middle helps Gamecocks and Stanley."