Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecock's final off season, thoughts as the football team wraps up camp and begins to game plan. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:54] Okay.
[00:00:56] Welcome to episode 333 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And you can kind of throw your hands up, almost put your hair back, feel that breeze in the wind, whatever, and rejoice.
[00:01:17] College football is back. Week zero. We have made it. You can sit down on your couch or at a bar this Saturday and watch a real life college football game. We have made it. Farmageddon taking over Ireland. Like, wow, lot to unpack there. What a way to kick off the season. And oh my God, like, could you imagine if the Gamecocks opened a season in Dublin? Like, I, I know that that town and that country has seen some boozers, but the Gamecock faithful rolling through there was, whoo. I think we would leave our mark, I really do. But really looking forward to be able to kick him back. Watch games just man.
[00:02:05] And then we are, we are right around the corner with our own game. So very, very exciting here.
[00:02:12] Going to talk strictly football here as we ramp up the fall sports and everything. But this is really the last true off season episode which is so exciting and all the feels all at once. So going to do trivia and then I'm going to give my last sort of wrap up off season thoughts about the football team as we head into this season.
[00:02:40] Pros, question marks, cons, things to be excited about, everything just sort of summate everything that we've been talking about here. And then the next episode will be prep for Virginia Tech. So we'll get back to six pack of picks, we'll get back to talking fall sports from around usc. We'll get back to Crows to the game and we are off to the races.
[00:03:06] And then probably along with that will be the return of twice a week. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Might be a little off with it being a Sunday game and then the holiday. So maybe it's like a Tuesday, Wednesday, we'll figure that out. But point being this episode here and now we are wrapping up the off season. So let's jump in to my handy dandy Gamecock trivia calendar here. I think we'll give this one more episode. I think we'll, we'll do it today and then we'll conclude the month with trivia and then we'll send it on its merry way. It serves its purpose in the summertime, but here we go.
[00:03:49] What MLB team did Bill Landrum, a South Carolina alum, pitch for in 1989 when he posted a 1.67 ERA and 26 saves?
[00:04:02] I have no idea. I'm gonna say the Brewers.
[00:04:05] The Pittsburgh Pirates. How about that? That's the second Pittsburgh Pirate trivia Gamecock connection, with Hayden Hurst being the other one. That's pretty neat.
[00:04:16] Cool. I also saw Ethan Petrie hit his first technically professional home run. So shout out, Ethan Petrie. Shout out, Gamecock baseball.
[00:04:26] We'll get there before we know it, but we got plenty to talk about between now and then. And let's savor the fall here because football season is here, kickoff is around the corner, so let's jump or right into that. I have a piece of news before we get into all this.
[00:04:46] George Wilson, the transfer edge rusher, unfortunately suffered an injury. According to Shane Beamer. This is a long term injury. It is very possible that he will miss all of 2025, Beamer said. They're already getting things in order for him to potentially come back in 26. I'm assuming that means medically red shirting. But. But that group, all of a sudden, that edge rusher group has taken some big hits. No pun intended. You have George Wilson out for the year and you have Jaylen Brown out for the year. So two guys who were transfers who you didn't know what you were going to get immediately kind of higher ceiling guys, guys you were hoping would develop into it, but nonetheless from a bare minimum, we're talking about a depth standpoint taking a hit here. So that group has to stay healthy, especially in this early part of the season. You're looking at, you know, Dylan Stewart, JT Gear, DEZ and Brian Thomas as a good two deep. But those guys need to stay healthy and be productive through that first part of the season while a couple of these freshmen who you know probably were going to contribute a little bit can come along. And don't forget you got a guy like Demon Clowney also out there. So there are a couple other pieces in that Edge group, but nonetheless, tough piece of news to hear for the Gamecock defense, but okay, let's get into my final offseason thoughts here. There's not going to be a lot of structure to this forewarning. I'm going to jump around. This is free formed off the top of my head talking Gamecock football. Like I always say, just imagine you're sitting at a bar, you're talking to me or in this case, listening to me monologue about Gamecock football here, but you have to start with the good stuff.
[00:06:45] I mean, the excitement around Gamecock football this year, I equated it back to like 2013, right? Like, where you had a lot of great pieces on offense coming back. You knew you should have a solid defense. And everyone's kind of holding their breath to say, wow, like, we might have a little something here.
[00:07:09] And that legitimate excitement is something that hasn't really been felt around Carolina football in a long time. There's been blips of it where you ended the year strong in a previous year and you're kind of hoping maybe you can carry it along. But anytime you have an all American caliber quarterback, a potential Heisman candidate at quarterback, the fact is we're going to be in every single game.
[00:07:38] Like, he's going to give you a chance in every single game. They might not all break our way, but when you have a quarterback that plays at that level, especially in college, but really at any level of football, you have a chance and just enjoy this, y'. All. Like, we don't know what's going to happen with Lenores and South Carolina after this year.
[00:08:03] We had a lot of fun and amazing memories last year. He was still growing into his own a little bit.
[00:08:11] Enjoy this. This does not happen every year. Even at these elite programs, they go through quarterbacks who weren't quite up to par.
[00:08:21] So enjoy this.
[00:08:23] And on the other side of things, not to be minimized, when you have an all American caliber defensive end in Dylan Stewart, that's going to open things up for the defense. I'm going to talk about defense in a second here, but that doesn't happen every day either.
[00:08:42] And when you read the reports coming out of camp, he is on a mission. Dylan Stewart is. I even saw he was working with Jadavian Clowney, talking about maybe some techniques and things like that, but really just how to progress in the college game and what to expect in year two compared to year one. But rumor is he is looking like a monster. And additionally, like quiet part out loud wants to take the records from Clowney.
[00:09:13] So there's a lot to be excited about there.
[00:09:16] And then when I'm looking at more reasons to be excited, I. I look at the continuity right where in the defense, like, yes, we have guys to replace. I'm going to talk about that in a second here, but it's still Clayton White. Like, you look at some of the teams that were playing, you can look at Virginia Tech, for example. They're bringing in a new defensive coordinator. There's none of that.
[00:09:41] You have guys at every level of the defense who understand what his system is, understand what he expects, and that is huge.
[00:09:50] That's huge for communication, that's huge for development of other guys in those groups.
[00:09:57] And especially when you talk about that back half of the defense, like this could be an all time no fly zone for South Carolina. Like the past defense, when you talk about a guy like Dylan Stewart coming off the edge and then a backfield full of veteran players.
[00:10:14] Dq, Smith, Payton, both Kilgore's, Swain Judge. Then you talk about transfers, guys who have played a lot of football in Norwood and C say these guys are smart, they're fast, they're physical and they understand how to play ball together.
[00:10:31] That cannot be talked about enough.
[00:10:34] That is a reason to be excited for this defense in addition to Dylan Stewart. And then Dylan's going to open things up for these guys who again, understand the assignment in a guy like Brian Thomas. JT Gere is a guy that came here as a transfer.
[00:10:52] The numbers were okay. He struggled with injuries, you know, and if he can be fully healthy, he's a guy who can be productive.
[00:11:01] Brian Thomas is the kind of guy who can be really productive, especially at the college level. He's an older guy now. I think he's ready to step up too. But then you also, you know, there are these younger guys and other guys, you know, like Desmond Omizulu, who hasn't really gotten a chance to blossom yet. I think that could be his time.
[00:11:22] And then again, like these veterans, even in the defensive tackle group, a guy like Monkel Goodwine or Nick Barrett, you know, then you look at the linebackers. J.R. johnson, point being, continuity is a theme to be excited about. Looking at the offense like, yes, it is a new play caller in Shula.
[00:11:42] And I've talked to some folks who, they're a little, a little hesitant, you know, to get super excited about a new play caller. You know, hasn't done it at the college level in quite some time.
[00:11:53] I look at it like this. He understands what was working last year. He's been around good offenses at the major levels of football. The guy knows his stuff.
[00:12:05] But he was that liaison between Dowell Loggins and Lenora Sellers last year. So he knows the sideline mannerisms of Lenores. He knows how to communicate to Lenoris what, when the bullets are flying, so to speak. And I think he's a really good teacher of the position and I think he's going to have these guys in command of the offense. And when you hear the reports of camp, you hear things like the offensive line is communicating better and they're playing faster. The wide receivers are playing faster and communicating better. Lenores is able to tell guys what to do, their jobs and things like that. So all in all, that core group from the offense is still there.
[00:12:53] You look at the offensive line, Tro Thompson, Henry Tree, these are guys who have been in the program for a while. Guy like Marquis, Anderson, too.
[00:13:07] The depth on the offensive line like this is kind of put up or shut up time for the offensive line.
[00:13:15] You look at the size, the average size, they are bigger. They have been under the tutelage of Coach Teasley for a couple of years now. There's depth there, there's athleticism, there's versatility.
[00:13:27] No excuses this year on that offensive line group. And kind of the same deal, when you look at that, too deep in the wide receiver room, you know, four main guys, Nick Mazio, Jarrod Brown and Dre. Dre Jacobs, those guys understand the playbook and the coaching of Coach Furry that much more.
[00:13:50] You hear a lot about the freshman wide receivers, and I agree there's a lot to be excited for, but they're true freshmen, you know, and that. That is something that I think you have to remind yourself. You know, there's a lot of excitement about the offense.
[00:14:07] I think you're going to have, you know, you're hearing reports that it's going to be more freshmen are going to probably play this year than they. You would anticipate.
[00:14:17] I think it was like eight wide receivers or six. Six or eight freshman wide receivers are brought in, and it sounds like they're thinking like maybe the majority of them could find their way to the playing field.
[00:14:30] I think if you get two or three, that's.
[00:14:33] That's solid, right? If you can get good contributions from a guy like Brian Rowe, Donovan, Murph, I think that helps, right? Even if they just make a couple of big splash plays in that, you know, as the year goes on, just to give defenses a pause. But again, from a depth standpoint, that's what you want.
[00:14:50] But all of this to say is that, like, the offense this year gives you that real reason to think that this team can start hot.
[00:15:04] We're going to talk about the defense here in a minute, but I think when you have that continuity and you have the playmakers at every level, it's legitimate reason to be excited. Like running backs, like, we can put Faison aside.
[00:15:20] I put my official prediction out there, and I hope I'm wrong. My official prediction is Sewell's going to get cleared, but only after the Virginia Tech game, because that's just what the NCAA does to South Carolina.
[00:15:34] But even if we take him out of it, you still have quality depth at every level.
[00:15:44] And you have guys who have played at a high level before everywhere. Like, in my mind, I always go back to the 2023 season where for whatever reason, you know, a few reasons, what, we didn't really have a running back going into week one. Like, we convinced ourselves that the Carry on Joyner was ready to be RB1 in the SEC. No disrespect to de Carry on Joyner. I love that guy. He's a Gamecock hero.
[00:16:17] He hadn't played running back at that high of a level with any sort of consistency. And so to put him as RB1 going into that year and us telling ourselves that it was going to work, you kind of knew that you were missing some playmakers and missing some depth going into that year.
[00:16:37] This year that's not the case. Even without Faison, you know, you have Attaway, Fuller, Howell, Augustave, you know, so that's just like the whole theme on the offense is that you have depth and experience everywhere.
[00:16:53] And it might be a situation where, at least for those first couple of games, the offense is ahead of the defense. And that's okay, right? If the offense improves in every major category going into this year, thanks to Lenores and the continuity and everything, like, that's fine. It's okay to have a team that's going to be led by your offense.
[00:17:18] You see that all the time now in college football.
[00:17:23] And that's where I go back to. You know, when I look at the schedule, I'm like, shoot, like this game could be a shootout. This game could be tight. When you have an offense led by high caliber players, you should have a chance in every single game. And that's something that I'm really excited for. You know, we've had great games, you know, but consistent offense has kind of eluded the Gamecocks for 10 years. You know, I mean, you know, you know what I'm saying. Like last year down the stretch, the offense performed really well and I think Loggins grew into that role really well with Lenoris. But there were still start that, you know, there were starts and stops with it and there were bad turnovers that killed drives and things like that. Like, of course there's going to be mistakes. You know, these, these guys aren't perfect.
[00:18:13] But I think they're going to be.
[00:18:16] I think they're going to be noticeably better right off the bat. But I think especially as the year goes on, I think it's head and shoulders above where they were last year. And it's night and day of some of the offenses we've seen around South Carolina in the last 10 years.
[00:18:33] And then when we look over on onto the defense, you know, I think the question marks that people talk about, at least that I have been talking about, are, are in that front seven.
[00:18:44] If you put aside Dylan Stewart, there's just so much talent you have to replace.
[00:18:50] But if you watch these press conferences, not just from the coaches, but from the players who scrimmage against these guys and practice against these guys, like, they really say that the guys who they have now, both who were in the program and now it's their time and the transfers have really stepped it up and they're saying that they can be just as good.
[00:19:14] We'll see how that goes. But if you give me a starting big three, right, if we're talking the defensive tackles of Goodwine, Nick Barrett and Gabe, I think it's Brownlow, Dinley, those three, you can kind of almost tell yourself like, okay, that's going to be the replacements for TJ Tonka and Boogie, right? Because those are the big three that you lost in the D tackle position, at least.
[00:19:49] And so then you have some guys behind them who you brought in through the transfer portal. You know, younger guys as well, recruited them. You know, a guy like, who maybe won't see a ton of playing time early, but a guy like Xavian Hardy, he can definitely make an impact. Pikes can make an impact. But if you look at Goodwine and Barrett, guys who have been in the program have been coached by Coach Robertson. Again, just. That's where development plays. And that's what the great programs have. The great programs have guys on their roster who have been on the team who have played enough to get that experience. But when it's their time to shine after the guy ahead of them graduates or leaves, whatever, he's ready to step up.
[00:20:38] I look at a guy like Goodwine, transferred in from Alabama, wasn't working out there. He obviously got some good coaching there for, I think it was the year he was there.
[00:20:47] He's getting really good coaching now. I think he's primed for a breakout year. Nick Barrett, veteran of that group, prime for a breakout year. Brownlow, Dindy, like, is someone who they're really hoping can take that next step. But if nothing else, he's a big body.
[00:21:04] So that's what you got in the defensive tackle. But you are going into the year with some question marks about production, right? Like, again, like, we can talk about it and you can say, well, on paper this should work, but you are looking to replace three guys who really did a lot of damage and were part of the reason why that defense was so good last year.
[00:21:28] And then when we're looking at the linebacker room, you know, this is where I think there's the most question marks on this defense. And if you are a little bit hesitant or if you're trying to find a reason to maybe pump the brakes a little bit, it might be this group because it could take a little bit of time. But I was thinking about this earlier today.
[00:21:51] We look at the linebacker group last year and, you know, we're not going to go through the whole depth chart here, but you had Debo Williams and D. Knight as sort of your middle linebackers.
[00:22:02] D. Knight, he was only here for a year.
[00:22:06] D. Knight was a guy who played a lot of football, transferred to South Carolina, really ingratiated himself with the culture, became a leader and everything like that, and had a fantastic year and played himself into a high draft pick.
[00:22:19] Who's to say that a guy like Sean Murphy can't do that?
[00:22:24] I believe Sean has more eligibility, but Sean, I think, was also at Alabama and fsu, I want to say.
[00:22:33] So the spin zone is that he's gotten coached at a high level, power conference, power program coaching, you know, and then he comes here and he's going to understand the playbook. And it seems like he's kind of did the same thing that D. Knight had did, where he ingratiated himself into the playbook, bought into the offseason workouts, is more of a vocal leader as well.
[00:23:00] Who's to say that a Sean Murphy can't do what D. Knight did? Where you step onto the field your first year at South Carolina and you make an instant impact, that very much can happen.
[00:23:14] Now, the other side of that argument is that D. Knight was very productive before he came to South Carolina. Sean Murphy really hasn't had that chance.
[00:23:26] J.R. johnson looking to step into the shoes of, you know, he's your veteran linebacker, for lack of a better term, simply because he was on the roster for a year. He's going to his second year now.
[00:23:41] You look at a guy who developed over time, like a Debo Williams. Now, Debo, you know, wasn't your typical build for a linebacker, but every year got Better and better and better.
[00:23:51] J.R. johnson, I think, has that better build played in meaningful snaps and meaningful games last year. The game's going to be slower to him this year. He's going to understand the assignments better.
[00:24:03] He's another year bigger, faster, stronger.
[00:24:06] There's not a reason to think that it's. He's going to be bad. You know what I mean? Like the linebacker group. And then you put Jo into that.
[00:24:17] And then also I look at a guy like Jaren Willis, I don't know where they're going to have these guys playing. I think J.R. might be kind of what Bam Martin Scott was.
[00:24:27] I'm not a linebacker coach. I would think you want him as more your Debo next to Sean Murphy in the middle. But a guy like Jaren Willis, he transferred in a couple years ago and we were excited for him as like a depth piece again his time. Now he's going to play a lot. Remember the name Jaren Willis. And if he can be fine, if all these guys in the. In the linebacker group can be fine, they were. This group was elite last year. If all those guys can be fine and you get solid play from those D tackles. Again, not elite. Defense can be just fine.
[00:25:04] You know, defense, I don't have the stats in front of me.
[00:25:08] Let's just say they must be ballpark if they were top five in the SEC last year in major categories, if the defense takes a little bit of a step back, because that's what you read about when these national writers are talking about South Carolina. They look at the roster and they say, you lost Nicki Manwari, you lost Kyle Kennard, you lost, you know, TJ and those guys, you lost OD Fortune. So naturally you're going to take a step back. It's like, that's fair. But do you know who's replacing those guys?
[00:25:41] But even if this defense takes a little bit of a step back, if they're middle of the road in the sec, right, they're like eight or nine in the major categories, right. So like straight average in the sec.
[00:26:02] That's where I think the offense picks up the slack.
[00:26:07] Last year this team did a really good job of playing complimentary football.
[00:26:11] And as Lenores was growing into his role, the defense was able to hold it down for him. And if he made a mistake, like fumbled the football, the defense could get it right back.
[00:26:22] I think you're going to see a lot of complimentary football this year, but it might almost be the opposite where the defense might let up some more points than they did last year, especially early those first three or four games.
[00:26:37] But I think Lenores can step onto the field and get it right back.
[00:26:40] So that's what I'm talking about, where you say this continuity on offense is going to be ahead of where they were last year, because if there is a learning curve on this defense, I think the offense can help them out.
[00:26:55] But again, going back to the defense, like, there's plenty of reason to be excited.
[00:27:02] Like, there's really, really elite level depth in that backfield, which is going to allow Clayton White to do some really creative things.
[00:27:10] I talked about at some point in the off season, like, I think you'll see a lot of coverage sacks by South Carolina. If you got a quarterback who's not very mobile, like, yeah, you. The defensive line might not get to them as fast as they did with Canard and Stewart, but I don't think those windows are going to be there all too often because the defensive backfield is going to be so good that they're going to have to hold on to that football for another second or two. And that extra second or two, boom. You're sacked by Dylan Stewart.
[00:27:45] So that's what I'm talking about. Right. I think everyone can vibe off of each other, for lack of a better term. And I, you know, I look at the D tackles and the linebackers as on paper, the talents there, we just need to see it in action and we need to see the production.
[00:28:04] And then, I mean, look, the biggest question mark and the part of the team that gives me the most pause right now is special teams, which every time we've talked about special teams under Shane Beamer, it's talked about how elite special teams are and how exciting and playmaking and, you know, an edge.
[00:28:27] Some of that may still be true, but the fact of the matter is we are replacing our punter, our kicker, holder, I think even, and the long snapper.
[00:28:40] That is very, very important.
[00:28:43] And, you know, we can talk about the kicking game last year, but maybe before that we saw how important the kicking game was. You know, Jeter, you know, Mitch, you know, that is Mitch.
[00:29:01] Sorry, Parker. There we go. But we see that consistency and what it does for you.
[00:29:07] We've had Kai Kroger being elite for a long time. He's had his ups and downs, but he was steady Eddie for you for a long time. Friend of the program.
[00:29:17] So that's a big question mark going into this. And that is something that week one can make you a little nervous.
[00:29:26] But, you know, you look at a Guy like Mason Love, this is his second year in the program. He's a red shirt freshman.
[00:29:34] Kai Kroger, he was a freshman when he started and he did pretty darn good his freshman year.
[00:29:41] You know, I think it was that Auburn game where Carolina went on the road and beat Auburn. Pretty sure that was Kai Kroger's freshman year. Don't quote me on that one. Exactly. But he was good pretty much from the jump.
[00:29:55] So again, what's to say that Mason Love, a guy who is trained for the last year with SEC level coaching and being mentored by Kai Kroger, who's to say that he can't step in and be an effective punter.
[00:30:12] The kicking game, I don't know where that stands.
[00:30:16] I think there's a legitimate chance that Mason Love does both.
[00:30:20] He did both in high school.
[00:30:22] I think he was kind of recruited as both.
[00:30:24] I know that there's other options at kicker, but we're going to see how that goes.
[00:30:31] But that's where you hope Lenores can score a lot of touchdowns and that you don't have to rely on the long kicks. You know, like that was sort of a, a mark against Dowel Loggins tenure is that a lot of times, like they would get into the red zone around that fridge, red zone area and then they couldn't finish and you had to settle on kicks. And how many times did that hurt us?
[00:30:54] So if Lenores can get you into the end zone more than you're used to, maybe you're a little less reliant on the kicking game. But nonetheless, like, that is a part of the team that I don't think people are talking about because we don't want to talk about it because it is a potential iffy part, you know, and if we look around on this team like, shoot, man, if you had a kicker and a punter that you loved, you'd feel really, really good about this team.
[00:31:26] And that's not to say that I don't. I had the team going 10 and 2.
[00:31:30] But you know, to sum it all up, like any team, it's not perfect college football. You lose guys, there's attrition, you need other guys to step up. But if there's something that we've seen under Shane Beamer, it's that guys actually do develop, you know, like guys get better year over year. Look at a guy like TJ Sanders or even Boogie Huntley, you know, even Kyle Canard in his one season here, like put up numbers. He never did his entire career.
[00:32:06] So maybe A guy like Good Wine Barrett, Brian Thomas Jr. Like, has that boom, breakout year. All development clicks, even in the running back group, you know, Oscar Attaway, like, if he takes the next step in his game, like, he could be a workhorse for you.
[00:32:23] I've talked about Jawan Howell at times. That guy can be a beast. If he puts it all together, there's depth in that room.
[00:32:31] So there is legitimate reason to be excited here, you know, And I'm going to get into Virginia Tech Week 1, all that. Like, you're not starting off with a cupcake. You're starting off against a legitimate team who they have some players, too.
[00:32:46] You know, they have some talent, too.
[00:32:49] So right into it. But I'm super excited. Like, you can spin everything, you know, you can look at some question marks and you can spin it, you know, but there are reasons where you could say, all right, well, you have to have a couple guys step up. And if a couple guys step up and you get a couple breaks that go your way, there is a chance that this team can really be special. And it's. It all starts with number 16, and that's Lenores.
[00:33:16] And I'm very, very excited for it and excited to preview week one with y' all next week. I know I went way over here, but, you know, we're talking ball that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter, or X is Cox gamecox. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox Talking Gamecocks. And please, like, support. Like, subscribe. Support the podcast. I appreciate all y'. All. Go Cox.