Marion DC Leo Phillips sees 'special' traits in T.J. Sanders
With his 6-foot-4, 284-pound frame and smooth maneuverability on the court, T.J. Sanders has been a boy's basketball standout at Marion (S.C.) High for some time.
But Marion defensive coordinator Leo Phillips always knew if he could ever get Sanders back on the football field, then there was likely an opportunity for him at the next level.
"I've seen a few. I've been on this earth 39 years and there's only a few I've seen that are doing it like that," Phillips said of Sanders' impressive skillset in a March interview with Gamecock Central. "It's real special and I know it's special. The hardest part was letting him know. I know he loves basketball, but football is your ticket, because you could be playing on Sundays one day if you follow the course."
Phillips has proved prophetic as Sanders' first season of high school ball in 2019 led to a March offer from the Gamecocks.
Other programs quickly followed with Coastal Carolina, Duke, East Carolina, N.C. State, Syracuse, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia all offering Sanders, who possesses a rare combination of size and athletic ability.
On July 4, Sanders committed to South Carolina and defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, choosing to stay close to home and play for the first school to offer him, after the COVID-19 shutdown kept him from visiting many other schools.
Sanders' focus this offseason, according to Phillips, has been on his mechanics and continuing to stay in the weight room, even through basketball season.
Phillips has seen Sanders transform from a basketball player to a football player who also can play basketball really well.
"He's actually a great student of the game," Phillips said in March. "We're practicing technique and his start from the stance, his push coming out. We talked to Coach Rocker about that and some of the things he does with the guys at USC."
On film, Sanders showed the ability last season to play defensive end, defensive tackle, standup edge rusher and tight end. The staff plans to continue to move him around this season in order to find mismatches and show off his versatility.
"Alignment, assignment and technique, because he's still learning the game," Phillips said. "For me, for him not playing, it takes a year to get back in it and then at the end of the season, that's really when you get back in the flow again, so I'm glad he came in his junior year to play instead of his senior year, because he might have gotten lost in the shuffle. We're going to fine-tune his technique and work on his takeoff and his first step rush and get it faster."
Sanders sees himself as a defensive end, but with a huge frame and the athleticism to go along with it, some believe he could grow into quick-twitch three-technique defensive tackle who can feast on less-athletic guards.
"I see a freak of nature," Phillips said. "I don't say that because he's my own player. With me, I'm so focused on what he does wrong and not what he does right, so I really didn't realize how special, special he was until after I went back and started breaking down his film. I was like 'wow.' Some of the stuff he does, and I talked to Coach Rocker about it, you can't teach it and he does it."