Shane Beamer noticed something in what limited time he and the rest of the coaches were able to observe his team this summer.
Observing the different weight lifting groups and on-field work, Beamer noticed not only how many defensive backs there are in the third and final group but also the talent there as well.
The Gamecocks finally have some depth at the defensive back position entering training camp, a far cry from where they were in the spring.
“In spring practice it was a scary position for us depth-wise. It was hard, honestly, to practice efficiently. We couldn’t practice the way we wanted to because of the depth, lack of, in the secondary,” Shane Beamer said.
“We changed that position around through recruiting, through the transfer portal. We got five defensive backs who weren’t here in the spring we have in the program now that we’re expecting to play this year. That’s a position I’m really, really excited to see what happens.”
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Beamer has mentioned before the Gamecocks were hit “pretty hard” during the coaching change specifically at that position with Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu venturing professional football and both Jammie Robinson and John Dixon entered the transfer portal.
South Carolina was left with limited bodies at the position in the spring, so much so they had recently-added walk-on players taking reps with the second team in the spring.
Adding depth was a priority and the Gamecocks did, securing commitments in the 2021 class from Isaiah Norris and La’Dareyen Craig while adding Tyrese Ross, Karon Prunty and Carlins Platel from the portal.
“Just from a numbers standpoint we’re better. Forget the athletic part of things. We‘re better from a number standpoint,” defensive backs coach Torrian Gray said. “Then we have some talented guys and we have talented guys back healthy. It’s exciting to start practice and see how we look different from spring.”
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South Carolina has a few returners who played last season, most notably RJ Roderick, Cam Smith and Jaylin Dickerson along with Jahmar Brown, Jaylan Foster, Joey Hunter, Dominick Hill, Marcellas Dial and O’Donnell Fortune.
A lot of those guys, though, were banged up to some degree in the spring and Gray is just excited to have them back healthy as practice starts Friday.
“You have to have healthy bodies first and foremost,” he said. “Right now no one’s played a down so we have a lot of healthy bodies. Our talent level is far exceeded what we had in the spring just getting back healthy.”
The biggest task now for Beamer, Gray and defensive coordinator Clayton White is figuring out which players will shoulder the brunt of snaps during the season.
They have a month to figure it out, and Gray is confident those things will sort themselves out throughout camp.
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“Ultimately you have to start with a depth chart. Someone’s got to be first team and someone has to be second team but at the end of the day those guys will determine how many snaps they get,” Gray said.
“You’re going to have your starters but at the end of the day it’s football. Guys are going to get injured. That’s what happens. If guys take advantage of their snaps during camp they’ll get more snaps. It always works itself out.”
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