SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
John Scott Jr. grew up a South Carolina fan, used to drive to Columbia to watch Hootie and the Blowfish as a teenager, and played for a state championship for Greer High at Williams-Brice Stadium.
So when South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp offered the Palmetto State native the Gamecocks' defensive line coach job this offseason, it didn't take long for Scott to jump at the opportunity.
"South Carolina has always been a blue-collar place to me and that's really who I am, so that part of it fit," Scott said Thursday as he met with the media for the first time since arriving in Columbia. "I've always thought that this place was a wonderful place. I remember coming to games when I was in high school. This place is rowdy, it has a tremendous gameday atmosphere, and so, just knowing the history and tradition of that, knowing what this school means to the state, it's closer to my family, just all of that wrapped up. To me, it was a no-brainer."
South Carolina officially announced Scott as its new d-line coach on Jan. 22 and it's been a whirlwind ever since, but a "good" busy as Scott described it. His first order of business was to hit the recruiting trail to both meet final 2019 targets like Jaquaze Sorrells and to start dropping in on 2020 targets while meeting coaches in the state, and catching up with others he already knew.
"It’s funny, a lot of the coaches I remember from recruiting at Georgia Southern, when I recruited the area," Scott said. "When I was at Western Carolina, I recruited South Carolina. Obviously, my first year with Brett (Bielema), I recruited South Carolina and North Carolina, and I actually remembered some of the kids that are here now, we were trying to get them to come to Arkansas. It’s good to be back in the state and recruiting the state you know well."
Last week, Scott got the opportunity to work with his players on the field for the first time as the Gamecocks opened spring practice.
Scott primarily works with Carolina's interior players with assistant Mike Peterson working with the edge guys. Scott listed Kobe Smith, Jabari Ellis, Rick Sandidge, Griffin Gentry, Zacch Pickens and Devontae Davis as his primary group this spring. Javon Kinlaw and Keir Thomas would also be in that grouping if not for injuries.
"I'm pretty excited about what we have," Scott said. "Obviously, we've got some guys that are really, really going to be big contributors not out there right now, but that's okay. It's a great opportunity for some of the young guys to get quality reps, which in this league, you better have some depth. I say all the time, it's the AFC, the NFC and the SEC, so you better have some depth. You need to be six or seven deep and this spring is allowing us to develop some quality depth."
The Gamecocks' newest coach says he's still going through the process of getting settled in Columbia and finding a home. But from the physical style of practices that Muschamp runs and Scott loves to Muschamp's blueprint of commingling odd and even fronts, another preference of Scott's, it's been a great fit on and off the field.
The fact that Scott won the 1994 state title on Williams-Brice's field doesn't hurt either. He has a certain familiarity with the program and area, so much so that he was surprised at how similar it seemed to before when he first stepped foot back on campus. Until, of course, he went across the street to check out the Gamecocks' brand new football operations center.
"My goodness, this is unbelievable. This is unbelievable," Scott said. "This is a great place that's going to help the university for years and years to come. They did it right. This is a great facility."
