Confidence building this year for Nixon, secondary

Keisean Nixon is ready to do a little less thinking on the football field, and that’s a good thing for him.

After coming in right before fall camp started, Nixon spent the majority of his first season on campus getting adjusted to the college game but says now this is the most confident he’s been as a Gamecock.

“I feel good,” he said. “I feel like I know everything now. When you know something you can make plays. It’s easier to make plays now. It should be a big year.”

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The junior college transfer said it’s “less thinking” and more playing football this season. And his teammates think that can lead to big things for the senior this year.

“We always talk about having a big year,” Steven Montac said, “and I feel like he can have one.”

Nixon, who came in the day before fall camp started last season, has improved night and day from where he was and even his coach has seen a jump in Nixon’s confidence through the first few practices this spring.

Instead of relying on his athleticism like he did last season, Nixon’s improved his technique and is ready to take over the second starting corner spot alongside Rashad Fenton or hop in at the nickel position with Jamyest Williams moving to safety.

“It’s not just get on the field and play corner and cover that guy. We think it’s that easy, but it’s not that easy. You have to go out, you have to have technique,” defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson said. “One false step and you’ll be in trouble.”

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Because Nixon and Fenton, who started all but two games last season, are returning for the final seasons in Columbia Robinson can scheme up a few new concepts defensively in the backfield.

Both corners prefer press coverage, and that’s something they and Robinson feel like they can do more this year.

“Yes, we’re going to be a bump-and-run football team,” Robinson said. “Do we want to play middle-of-the-field coverage all the time? Absolutely not; we don’t want them to know what we’re doing...We do know when we need to bump we have to be able to do it really well.”

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One of the pieces that could help the defense play that man-to-man, physical coverage is the insertion of two signees Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu.

Horn will enroll over the summer so the coaching staff hasn’t worked with him yet, but Mukuamu’s been on campus since January working out.

At 6-foot-4, Nixon laughed and said he’s the tallest defensive back they have, and is really unique player.

Fenton hasn’t seen a player like him before, likening him to former Auburn cornerback Carlton Davis, who played high school football near Fenton.

Coming in, there were questions about which spot Mukuamu would play, but it seems like he’s finding his stride with the cornerbacks.

“I was kind of surprised. I was still, before practice started, figuring out where he’d fit in the defensive backfield,” Fenton said. “He’ll find a fit for sure.”