Jaylen Nichols impressing Wolford early

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS

When coaches are recruiting players, the standard line is they’re recruiting the parents also. That could also be said when a coach is deciding whether or not to pursue a player in high school or not.

So when offensive line coach Eric Wolford met Jaylen Nichols’s parents, he was sold and sold quickly.

“One thing you figured out real quick is they’re disciplined, they believe in hard work, they believe in doing things the right way,” he said. “When they talk about being here at 1 o’clock, they’re going to be here at 12:30. That’s just the way he was raised. His mom’s done a great job and he’s started off on the right foot here. He’s at meetings on time, he’s in his playbook."

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That started Nichols and the Gamecocks on a road that ultimately ended in the offensive lineman’s commitment to South Carolina and him enrolling in January for the start of spring practice.

Throughout the roughly two months he was on the field this spring he impressed the coaching staff with his raw athleticism and ability to do a lot of different things on the offensive line.

“Jaylen Nichols has done some good things for a young lineman. He’s starting to learn it’s a lot different from high school with the speed of the game,” Wolford said. “He’s got some natural tools, some physical traits and some natural ability. It’s kind of going fast for him at times but he competes. He’s got to learn some finer details of blocking when it comes to blocking an SEC guy compared to a high school guys. He looks like he has a chance to be a good player for us.”

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The staff likes Nichols as a tackle anchoring the end of the line, saying he moves really well for someone that’s over 300 pounds and can develop into a really good player down the line as he gets better, faster and stronger.

Nichols committed to South Carolina early in the recruiting process, announcing his commitment in December 2017 after impressing Wolford and the rest of the Gamecock staff at one of their camps over the summer.

Despite being a tad hobbled going through workouts, he was still one of the standouts in the offensive line group.

“The physical tools, we saw that on film when we watched him,” Wolford said. “He’s a guy that jumped 30 inches with a strained hamstring as a high school kid. That’s pretty good when you start looking at numbers. That tells you what he has in his body and he weighs 325 pounds. That’s a freshman that’s supposed to be going to the prom in a couple weeks.”

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The Gamecocks have a few entrenched guys on the line with Donell Stanley, Sadarius Hutcherson and Dylan Wonnum coming back with them still figuring out the pieces at center and one of the guard sports.

Nichols might be a year away from getting significant playing time, but he’s already making a really good impression on his teammates he goes against in practice.

“I’ve seen him. He’s going to be pretty good, too,” DJ Wonnum said. “He’s very aggressive, has great hands. Under Coach Wolford, he’s going to be one of the top offensive tackles."