Gamecocks laying groundwork with versatile Memphis athlete, son of former NFL tailback

A few years ago, South Carolina recruited running back Chase Hayden of Memphis and was in his final three before he signed with Arkansas. He’s now at East Carolina.

Now the Gamecocks are going after his younger brother, class of 2022 athlete Dallan Hayden (5-11 192) of Memphis.

The Hayden boys are the sons of former Tennessee and NFL running back Aaron Hayden. USC assistant coach Bobby Bentley works the Memphis area and has some success there over the years. He’s been recruiting Dallan Hayden for a chance to get more strongly involved.

“I talk to them from time to time, I’d probably say maybe every two to three weeks Coach Bentley, I’ll call him or text, and my dad will talk to him,” Hayden said. “I think the interest is there. He said I’m their type of kid personality-wise. He said I show up on film and he likes how I’m an impactor on both sides, being very versatile.”

Hayden plays at a high level on both sides of the ball: running back and slot receiver on offense, cornerback on defense. Bentley has not told him where he would play with the Gamecocks. Hayden expects at some point that will be defined, especially after the coaches can become more involved with the 2022 class starting Sept. 1.

“I feel like he’ll really start pushing for me Sept. 1 when coaches can start contacting us,” Hayden said. “I’ve talked to T-Rob (Travaris Robinson). It’s usually more Coach Bentley but I hear from T-Rob from time to time. He said I have really good tape at defensive back. He was telling me they play a lot of bump and run, and he was asking me what do I like to play. He said they will get up there and press. He said they’ll backpedal but he said he really likes bump and run. At the school I’m at now, on the defensive side of the ball, we do some bump and run in our concepts.”

Hayden said that along with USC he hears a lot from Notre Dame, Florida State, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, Ole Miss and Virginia Tech. He’s not formulated favorites yet, something he’ll do after he’s able to get out for visits.

“I haven’t really thought about my top schools, but they (USC) are definitely in the mix,” Hayden said. “Probably narrow it down sometime during the season for sure, like when everything opens back up after this COVID mess. I might visit those schools and seriously look at those schools. I went to South Carolina back when my brother was being recruited, but they didn’t have that ridiculous facility they have now that’s really nice.”

Hayden is rated as a four-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite and ranked 18th nationally as an athlete and the No. 10 prospect in Tennessee. According to MaxPreps stats, in 11 games last season Hayden rushed for 466 yards and four touchdowns, had 12 catches for 131 yards and 27 tackles with seven pass deflections.