When Des Kitchings officially got the Gamecocks’ running backs coach job, he didn’t have much time to savor the moment.

It was time to start recruiting.

Kitchings took over last week and has been hitting the recruiting trail hard as he continues to build relationships with some of the coaches he’s known for years.

“One thing that’s helped me in the transition was a lot of the area I was recruiting prior at NC State or even at Vanderbilt. A lot of the coaching contacts I’ve already had. Now it’s about understanding the board and South Carolina, who their targets are,” Kitchings said. “It may not have matched up with other places I’ve been. I’m hitting the ground running, trying to establish contacts with coaches I may haven’t talked to in a couple weeks or months and having those kids who are on the South Carolina board know who I am and where I’m at now.”

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Since taking over, he’s tweeted about making virtual recruiting stops in North Carolina and the midlands, introducing himself to some of the guys on the Gamecocks’ recruiting board.

He’s already reached out to some of the team’s priority targets in the area and at running back and offered a few other guys like Xavier Simmons, Chris Lawson Jr. and a few others.

“The response and feedback has been good. I’m presenting the facts. I’m not trying to sell anything. I’m presenting the facts on what the University of South Carolina has to offer with the brand and the caliber of ball every Saturday in the SEC and the resources the university is providing the student athlete that’s going to be better than some universities,” Kitchings said.

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“It’s important for the kids to see that and the parents. The program itself has good kids in the program that we’ve known about in recruiting. Players sell the program. I present the facts on what we have but the players sell the program and then getting out here this fall and winning games.”

Kitchings isn’t wasting any time really, spending his mornings on offensive staff Zoom meetings to learn offensive coordinator Mike Bobo’s system then his afternoons recruiting and building relationships with the guys already on the team’s board.

And when he’s recruiting and reviewing film, he knows he’s exactly what he’s looking for too.

“Bottom line as a running back, his objective is to score touchdowns. If a kid struggles to do that in high school he’s not going to be able to do it in college. He has to be a guy who has the ability to do that. A college running back is the starting point of an offense. I know we talk a lot about quarterbacks, but in particular this league where you have to be able to run the ball consistently, you have to have guys who can break tackles and create explosive plays.”

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Kitchings looks for a lot, and says a lot of times he looks to see if a guy is capable of playing on both sides of the ball or if they can play other sports, too.

“I really love guys that can play on both sides of the ball, which doesn’t happen much in high school any more. If a kids’ playing both sides of the ball, it shows ultra competiveness that way,” he said. “If he’s a multi-sport kid you can see him play in a different arena, I think all those things tie into his intangibles as a player.”