Offensive notebook: How are the coaches keeping Deebo Samuel healthy?
Embracing the physical
Will Muschamp wasn’t coy about saying his team needed to get tougher in the trenches, and his practices are designed to do just that.
He said going into preseason camp he scripted the team’s first 11 practices with the goal of getting the team more physical and stronger.
“He makes practice so that there’s no choice for it to be physical. If you don’t go out there with the right mindset, you’re going to be on the ground a lot, tight end Kyle Markaway said. “It forces you to be physical, which is good because in the past we haven’t been that physical. It’s good to get that practice in there so games are easier.”
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The team starts every fully padded practice with the Oklahoma drill, or as they call it the “cock drill.”
It takes some getting used to for younger players, but the team is hoping the physical practices will yield success this season.
“As physical as it can get. Practice is really, really hard but that’s what we expect,” tight end K.C. Crosby said. “Everyday we step in and stretches you see the energy, so we know what to expect. It’s been very hard but we’ve been taking it as it rolls.”
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Sustaining Samuel
Deebo Samuel has shown explosiveness and versatility as the Gamecocks’ top wide receiver when he’s been healthy during his career.
His health has been an issue through his first two seasons in Columbia. He only played in five games his redshirt freshman year with a hamstring injury and missed three games last season with nagging lower body injuries as well.
Now, the coaching staff is taking added precautions to keep Samuel healthy in what could be a breakout season.
Along with keeping a close eye on his yardage totals in practice, Samuel’s hydration levels are consistently being tested so that his water intake is good enough. Then, the team is monitoring his off-the-field habits as well.
“The other thing is making sure we’re doing everything we can off the field: eating right, getting the right amount of rest, things like that,” wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon said. “I think that’s the biggest step he’s taken forward to better himself in that area.”
Coming into his junior year, he was named to the first-team All-SEC preseason team as an all-purpose back. This season, he’ll likely play as a wide out, in the backfield and in the kick game if he continues to stay healthy.
“He’s a really good football player that plays wide receiver,” McClendon said. “He doesn’t mind the contact; he doesn’t mind getting in there and blocking.”
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Trench warfare: keeping tabs on the offensive line rotation
Alan Knott is taking the majority of snaps as first-team center with Cory Helms and Zack Bailey at right guard and tackle, respectively. The focus zeroes in on the left side of the line.
Knott said Donnell Stanley is playing the majority of the starter snaps at right guard and there really isn’t a clear-cut favorite at tackle. Malik Young and Sadarius Hutcherson are the players listed on the two-deep depth chart, but Dennis Daley is working into the rotation.
Some players are getting looks at different line positions as well with Cory Helms listed as the starting right guard and the backup center.
“Most guys know that if you don’t know the position, then you’re going to rep it,” Knott said. “If you know it, then you’ll kind of stick in one spot.”
Bailey, who played center and guard his first two years, is expected to stay at tackle this season, although Muschamp said the coaches can move him if needed.
Knott’s been impressed with Bailey’s improvement through the team’s first eight practices, saying he’s learning his new position quickly.
“Zack’s been an inside player for us since he’s been here,” Knott said. “We flushed him out there to tackle now and it’s a whole new ballgame on the end. I think he’s come the longest route from inside to outside.”