SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

Danny Fennell admits he feels more comfortable when the chips are down than when things are going well.

If that’s the case, the last few months he probably felt the best he has in his entire career.

Fennell tore his ACL in the Gamecocks’ final game of the regular season at Clemson and spent the entire offseason rehabbing to get back ready for his senior season.

“I work kind of better from a disadvantage,” Fennell said. “This gave me a chance to build on something. Rehabbing my knee is something I’ve been taking step by step, day by day since the injury. It’s really helped me progress and continuing to strive to work to get better.”

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Rehab was a slog, and Fennell was laser-focused to get back to 100 percent with fall camp starting at the beginning of August.

He did it having to balance summer workouts and an internship, going in as early as possible for rehab so he could get it done.

A typical rehab day for Fennell in the summer would be showing up before team workouts, rehabbing for roughly 30 minutes to an hour before team runs to work on flexibility and strengthening it.

Then, he’d hop right into the team run when he was fully cleared to do it, finish that and go to his internship before returning home later that day to ice the knee, recover and get ready to do it all again the next day.

It paid off for him, and he’s as close to healthy as he’s been since tearing his knee up against the Tigers.

He thinks he’s 100 percent, and said before the season team doctors say he’s ahead of schedule. Will Muschamp said at SEC Media Days Fennell is good to go but will be on a pitch count early in camp.

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“In my mind, I’m 100 percent,” Fennell said. “I haven’t been officially cleared but in my mind i feel amazing. I’ve been running, jumping, cutting, sprinting. I feel good.”

Now, it’s up to him to find a place in the Gamecocks’ defense as a guy who can play a couple different positions.

Right now, Fennell is working primarily with the BUCKs, the Gamecocks’ pass-rush specialist group on the defensive line, but knows how to play both SAM linebacker and defensive end in Muschamp’s scheme.

It’s the benefits to being in the system since Muschamp arrived at South Carolina, and he hopes that experience pays off because he thinks his style of play fits perfectly with the team’s identity.

“At my best I’m a hard-working, blue collar guy like the identity of our defense,” he said. “I may not be the biggest, strongest, most talented guy, but I’m going to give my all. If it that’s not good enough them that’s how it shook out and I’ll try harder next time.”

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Fennell finishes his eligibility this season, ending a five-year career at South Carolina, but will walk away with something arguably more important in December as well.

That’s when graduate from the Darla Moore School of Business with a master’s degree in international business, giving him two degrees and setting him up for success if football doesn’t pan out.

He spent this summer interning with a company in Columbia, and jokes there’s a lot of similarities between the business world and football.

“It’s cutthroat. Business is so much like football, and football is a business,” he said, cracking a smile. “In the business school, they get a lot of attention because they’re number one in the nation. The results really drive the environment.”