The Gamecocks only got five practices in this spring, which is a pretty small sample size to judge what next year’s team can be.

But what the Gamecocks did get was a full month and a half with new strength coach Paul Jackson and it was enough to see some positive trends in the newly revamped strength and conditioning program.

“Some of the different things that he's brought I think have been very beneficial to our players,” Muschamp said. “Seeing our guys compete, I think we've made some improvements in a very short time. Now I'm excited to get them on the field and see it carry over on the field, but just in the off season program, to see some of those things has been very pleasing.”

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Jackson came in this offseason, relieving former strength coach Jeff Dillman and immediately started implementing his own specific style of doing things.

His background is less about bulking up and more focused on flexibility and speed training to keep players flexible and fast during the season.

“They’re very high tech,” Dakereon Joyner “He’s going to have us fast and very explosive. I think we train great all offseason and think it’s the best shape we’ve ever been in.”

Jackson spent over half a decade at Ole Miss serving in the same role, but before then was at Southern Miss and Miami (Ohio). His background in speed training started at the Parisi Speed School where he learned the finer points of speed and sprint training.

“I feel like Coach Jackson and his speed training background has helped us,” Ernest Jones said. “You can tell his teams are faster. We’re moving around a lot faster. It looks more fluid. He’s taught us the proper way to run. He’s improving us and helping us.”

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He began working with the Gamecocks in January and had two months of workouts with the team before things were canceled, focusing primarily on technique during lifting and getting more flexible and faster.

How the Gamecocks do it is through sprint training where players race through 10 yards to focus on short bursts getting faster.

He’s very technology-savvy, using the Gamecocks’ already installed Catapult system to see how players are moving and how much effort their giving at any specific time.

In a perfect year, his system is a four-week program where they mix in different distance-based and sprint-based workouts to help make guys better conditioned and faster.

“It’s gone really well,” Zacch Pickens said. “We’re moving fast. You don’t really see a lot of injuries and we’re protecting ourselves and getting ourselves to get faster, faster and faster. That’s all we really want to do.”

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Injuries have plagued the Gamecocks the last two years at South Carolina, and Muschamp brought Jackson in to try and fix those problems in 2020.

“Coach Jackson’s the real deal,” Jones said. “Everything we’re doing I feel like is going to help us and have us ready in crunch time when there’s a minute left or when we need that extra push. I feel like he’s building us for that.”