Gamecocks have unique spring plan for senior A.J. Turner
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
When senior A.J. Turner showed up listed as a defensive back on South Carolina's updated spring roster, most assumed that the long-time running back was officially moving to defense.
Not so fast, as the great Lee Corso would say.
Head coach Will Muschamp said Tuesday as he previewed the start of spring practice that Turner would play on defense for the first five practices of the spring before moving back to running back where he's spent most of his career.
"I'm trying to create depth on our football team," Muschamp said. "So, sort of the situation we went through this past year, it's hard to teach a player all the concepts of what we do at any position in one week, but if he's had some experience in playing the position, if we keep his hand in it a little bit, he's able to help us."
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Turner stepped in last season and helped out in an injury-ravaged secondary by playing snaps on that side of the ball in the final two games of the season. Turner, who is also a standout on special teams, expressed interest at the time in potentially playing both ways as a senior.
While Turner is slated to play running back int the fall, at the very least, Muschamp wants to put him in a better situation to be prepared to play defense in 2019 if he's needed.
"We're going to be a little thin numbers-wise in the secondary and he's certainly a guy that is more than capable of going and playing really good corner for us or really good nickel for us," Muschamp explained. "We want to put him in a situation that is fair to him, if he needs to move over and play the corner position that we can do that and not worry about having to teach him all of the different things that we have to at that position.
"It certainly will help him, and I think from a position multiplicity standpoint, help him moving forward in creating some value for him as a guy that can possibly get on tape at defensive back like he did last year."
Turner isn't the only one getting a look at another spot.
Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle MJ Webb will play offensive guard for the first five practices of the spring.
"We're going to see where it goes after that, but we feel like he's a guy on the interior of the offensive line that can give us some help," Muschamp said.
