Spring practice got underway for South Carolina on Tuesday as the Gamecocks look to build on what was a great start to the Shane Beamer Era in his first season as the program’s CEO.
Now, Beamer enters a monumental sophomore season as head coach, looking to build on a 7-6 campaign and take this team to what has the potential to be a breakout 2022 season and major building block for a program on the rise.
Today, as we continue our spring football coverage, we are diving into a position group that is looking for a rebound in 2022: Linebackers.
Catch up on the rest of our spring practice breakdowns here:
Major returns
Just like South Carolina’s defensive line, the Gamecocks could truly afford to get some key returning pieces coming back. That’s exactly what they got with former five-stars Zacch Pickens and Jordan Burch returning in addition to Jordan Strachan on the defensive line. And that’s exactly what the Gamecocks will be getting in the linebacking corps.
Sherrod Greene and Brad Johnson are returning and are set to be the top-two linebackers (at Mike and Will linebacker, respectively) as we continue throughout spring ball and into the summer.
Johnson is a “Super Senior” who is returning for a sixth and final year, bringing back 74 total tackles from 2021 (which was No. 2 on the team) in addition to four tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks. More importantly, Johnson returns as a veteran leadership presence as a captain for defensive coordinator Clayton White.
Greene is also returning as a “Super Senior,” and his presence will be much needed in an already-thin position. Greene has not been able to get on track or sustain much production because of injuries over the past two seasons, but he is an important piece of this Gamecocks unit in White’s 4-2-5 base defense.
Fixing the run defense
Just like we said when we detailed the 2022 defensive line, there is a massive need for South Carolina’s run defense to plug some holes and get shored up.
Defensively, getting gashed in the run game was responsible for South Carolina’s downfall, and the linebacker unit has to own some of that after allowing the fourth-most rushing yards in the SEC.
Can Johnson and Greene stay healthy and provide enough of a stable presence and enough production for the Gamecocks to take this defense to another level?
Other names to emerge?
Another big factor into the main two-man unit is how White implements his hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker: how often will he use one and who will play there?
Three candidates are Jordan Strachan, Jordan Burch and NC State transfer Terrell Dawkins as each has the explosiveness and athleticism to fill that role.
Beyond those five players mentioned (starters Johnson and Greene; potential hybrids Burch, Dawkins and Strachan) there are a pair of main names to keep an eye on during the spring.
While Greene will likely start at the Mike linebacker spot and Johnson as the Will linebacker, Debo Williams, Mo Kaba and Darryle Ware all figure to either play key snaps or fight for them during spring ball: Williams at Mike linebacker; Kaba and Ware backing up Johnson at Will linebacker.
