South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp didn't mince words.
Eight practices into preseason camp, he wants more out of the safety position.
“Just too inconsistent right now,” Muschamp said. “Steven Montac has had a really good camp at safety. Other than that, we’re struggling."
Montac, South Carolina's lone returning senior at the position, has been a consistent performer this fall among a position group that otherwise features young players, guys transitioning from another position and a graduate transfer, with another graduate transfer about to possibly join the mix.
"Nick Harvey has repped at safety some," Muschamp explained. "He’s also played corner and nickel. He's really smart. Jamyest (Williams) has also repped in there. J.T. Ibe has still not been cleared. I think Wednesday is when he's going to be cleared to do some individual and skel. I'm not sure about contact yet. We’re not very good at that position right now."
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Montac has played in 21 contests over the past two seasons making eight starts and has showed a knack for getting the football off opponents. It would seem he's a lock to start at the position.
Williams was the Gamecocks' starter at nickel as a true freshman last season, but missed the spring while recovering from shoulder surgery. He's making the move to safety and has taken first team reps during the part of practice that's open to the media.
Ibe, a transfer from Rice, has been working to get back from a hip injury, while Harvey, a transfer from Texas A&M, started camp working at corner and nickel before now getting some time at safety.
“We've got some time, fortunately, so that's the fortunate part about it,” Muschamp said. “We need more attention to detail, something we’ve talked to our team about after every practice is the attention to detail. The devil is in the details of what we do. We have to continue to understand that at the safety position if you make a mistake the other band is playing. It is a critical mistake when you make one.
"We’ve got to heighten our sense of urgency, awareness and production. We’ve got to have more production from those positions.”
