Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks Talking season is here. A potential Heisman campaign for Lenores and my candidates for a breakout season. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:55] Okay.
[00:00:57] Welcome to episode three, 3:30 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope y' all had a nice week. Gamecocks. It's always tough. Reentry is always difficult. You're on a three, maybe four day, Fourth of July bender celebration only to get back to having to answer emails, circle back, work on projects and things like that. It's. Reentry is always difficult, but nonetheless, hope y' all had a good one and are ready to take on another weekend here.
[00:01:37] Gonna jump into things here, but before I do, wanted to just remind everyone what I brought up last week. There's gonna be a little bit of a disruption in the schedule for the show.
[00:01:49] Long story short, your boy is getting hitched. I'm tying the knot, so I'm gonna be celebrating that. And then I'm gonna be on my honeymoon. So I think it's gonna be a total of two shows. I believe that will not happen because it's. We're only on the once a week schedule for the summer, so there's gonna be two weeks without me. I'm. I don't know what y' all are gonna do. I don't know what I'm gonna do without y', all, but stay tuned to social media. You know, I still may be doing some European beer reviews or. Or something along those lines if there's any breaking news. Hey, can I always take two minutes, talk about it on a reel, you know, so that's going to be fun, but obviously stay tuned and I'll miss y', all and I'll see you all on the other side. It's going to be. Going to be a great time. But let me start some Gamecock trivia for y' all before we jump into the rest of things here.
[00:02:47] Spoiler alert. This one is a little easy. The 2022 South Carolina Women's basketball team captured the second national championship in program history.
[00:02:59] Who was the head coach of those squads?
[00:03:03] Don Staley. That was. I think this company might have. Might have ran out of content ideas for this one, but, yeah, shout out to Don Staley the Goat.
[00:03:12] Just a fantastic piece of Gamecock history and the culture around our entire athletics department. Don Staley is the best. Did y' all see that? The Knicks called her about their. Their head coach position.
[00:03:28] They. They since filled that. I don't even think she really took a meeting or anything like that. But how about that? Like, just to be so good, to garner attention from a open head coach position in the NBA just says a lot about the character of her. And obviously, the results speak for themselves. Shout out Don Staley. No, shout out to the Knicks.
[00:03:52] But all right, moving attention here to football.
[00:03:56] Everyone's favorite topic. It's just we're inching closer. You know, you get these eight weeks, you know, or like nine more Sunday sleeps, you know, like stuff like that, like these ways to minimize the amount of days, and you're just like, like, holy crap, it's going to be here before we know it. Week zero is really going to be here before we know it.
[00:04:19] And I think at the end of this month, there's NFL preseason. So it's like, you know, that's kind of a joke. But nonetheless, you can, in theory sit down and watch a new football game on your TV in a matter of days. It's just incredible. But looking at the SEC in South Carolina, talking season is officially here. It's been talking season for us fans pretty much since the Citrus bowl ended. But this is sort of that official kickoff as SEC media days will be next week, July 14th to the 17th. Shane Beamer will be taking Lenora Sellers, nick Barrett and D.Q. smith as the representatives for USC.
[00:05:04] That's always fun to see who's going to go. You know, just. It's a fantastic opportunity for these players to represent our university, our football program, and of course, themselves and their families. So it's really cool, especially when you look at someone like Nick Barrett, who has put in a lot of work behind the scenes, has been at this program for a while, is kind of set up to have a big year, but was someone who, you know, was not necessarily mentioned in the same breath as Tonka or Boogie, Right. Well, now that's his chance. So it's a shout out to him and the work he's done. D.Q. smith, kind of a similar deal where we all know about DQ and we know his abilities and he's been making plays for us for years at this point.
[00:05:54] But now it's his time to be that top dog in that defensive backfield. Right.
[00:06:01] With Nikki leaving. So really, really cool. And then you look at Lenoris and first thing I went to was, is this an early Heisman campaign for Lenores? You know, Shane Beamer talked about having the best quarterback in the country multiple times last year.
[00:06:18] And after the Clemson game, there's the Sound bite where he's like, if you are not voting for this man for the Heisman, I don't know what you're doing.
[00:06:26] Obviously his name has been plastered over names to watch, you know, top QBs in the SEC, top QBs in college football. But these are the little things that a coach can do to get that player in front of the right people, you know what I mean? Like, you get Lenores having some really good interviews. You know, he's very well spoken, he presents well, you know, talking about everything that he accomplished and everything that he wants to accomplish this year.
[00:06:56] That gives these voters and the writers who write the articles that inevitably can cause some bias one way or another, that gives them a little bit more perspective and it's just continuing to bolster your players. You know, Lenoris is a guy who has gone about this the right way, put his work in, put his time in, had a fantastic year last year, had to grow into that a little bit, is set to have hopefully another good progression year and who knows where that'll take him. But it's Shane Beamer saying, you know, this is a guy who wanted to come to South Carolina, stayed at South Carolina, and we're going to reward him and these guys for going about their business the right way. But yeah, that was the first thing my mind went to, was I think like, not only are you bringing your quarterback leader, but you might have a little bit of an early Heisman campaign. Thanks to Shane Beamer for Lenore Sellers there because if memory serves, I don't think he's brought a starting quarterback to media days. I don't think he brought Rattler. I could be wrong about that one.
[00:08:10] But you know, I think we've had a Luke Doty, I think we've had a Dak Joyner, but this is your QB one for sure. Bonafide stud quarterback. And you bring him so really cool to see. And it's always fun to watch, you know, the coach's opening remarks and seeing all the sound bites that come from it. It's.
[00:08:29] It's like the ultimate college football junkie stuff where you get like a half day program, you know, and then they're on to the next bunch, you know, so it's great. But I always like when they, you know, get the one on ones with the players and the coaches and things like that. It's. It's really cool. So keep an eye out, Keep an eye out for SEC media days. Yeah, talking season is officially upon us, but all right, changing gears here and continuing with the segments of looking forward towards the 2025 football season.
[00:09:06] Last episode talked about reasons for optimism going into this season. And this is kind of dovetailing off that a little bit. But this is more so specific players. So I have my candidates for a breakout season. So there may be a little overlap of what we talked about previously, but this is going to look at some individuals who are primed to take that next step.
[00:09:33] And I got five guys here.
[00:09:35] If all five of them take that next step, look out. But even if, say three of them do, to the point where you're like, wow, okay, they kind of broke through to that next level, it will make major, major impacts across the board.
[00:09:52] All right, so first off, Nick Harbor.
[00:09:56] I think Nick is probably the talk of most circles in our fandom because he is someone that really is primed for that. I was looking at it and I think he can double his production from last season. Double it. And I. Not only do I think he can do it, I know he has the ability. I think he should do it. Which would put him at about 700 yards and six touchdowns. And I say all that because you started to really see it click for him on the field in that certainly that last half. But I'd say really that last third of the season, you know, there were games where he was quiet.
[00:10:42] There'd be games where he made one really good catch, but there were a few where he had a couple of really nice snags and he had some big touchdowns, didn't really have drops.
[00:10:51] And I want to say his yards per catch was like 14 or something.
[00:10:55] So he is that big threat.
[00:10:58] You couple that right where he was naturally coming along. It was just slower than we would have liked.
[00:11:05] You couple that with the very well documented efforts by him in this past offseason, the decision to forego track and to focus on football and to dedicate his time to that, it's simply going to pay the dividends.
[00:11:22] He's going to be a better route runner, he's going to have better chemistry with Lenoris, he's going to have a better understanding of what Coach Furry is expecting and really getting that, you know, that full type of off season work with your position coach who has already shown the ability to develop well is just naturally going to pay itself off.
[00:11:46] So all of those little things that you have to do as a wide receiver that he was learning more or less on the fly, you're going to continue to do. But now you have two full seasons of playing the game, but now this full entire off season is where you can really grind on those little things.
[00:12:05] So it's really cool. And I've talked about it before.
[00:12:08] I see an Xavier Leggette arc for Nick Harbor, a guy who has all the physical tools in the world but wasn't quite ready to be an SEC receiver immediately. And you'd see these flashes of it and you'd say that, that that guy is, is onto something. And then one day he puts it together and he lights the league on fire. And I really think that Nick harbor has a chance to do that this upcoming season and then who knows what happens after that, right? But I truly think, and I'm going on record here, that he can double his. Predict his production. Excuse me, from last year.
[00:12:55] My next player here is Juwan Howell. Jawaran Howell. Excuse me.
[00:13:00] I've talked a little bit about him in the past. You know, last year he had just 123 yards and two touchdowns. But if you'll remember correctly, he transferred in from SC State after his freshman year where he had over 800 yards.
[00:13:15] So I think it was a deal where he needed to develop in the sec and he was a little buried on the depth chart. He did see some action throughout the year, which I think helped. But I look at this kid and I say he has all of the physical tools to be great.
[00:13:33] He's big, he's physical, he's fast, he runs hard.
[00:13:38] And he had his moments last year where you started to see some of that, you know, in the bowl game, you know, he had I think about a half dozen carries or so and he was starting to get it going a little bit. He had a horrendous fumble deep in Illinois territory which effectively ended his game. So if he can clean up those things, he is someone that I think can end up being a huge piece for that group because of the upside that he has, you know, doesn't have a lot of bad habits. He's young.
[00:14:11] He's now also a guy who's had his, you know, second off season with the program, understands everything a little bit more. I would imagine that SEC games slowed down for him a little bit towards the end of last year. So he is someone that can be a big time contributor because you can simply not have enough dudes in the running back group.
[00:14:36] Next I have Brian Thomas Jr.
[00:14:39] That edge spot across from Dylan Stewart is going to be ripe for the taking for someone to step up. You know, he was decently productive. 12 solo tackles, four and a half sacks. But he is someone that now as an upperclassman and veteran can easily drive those numbers up. And I look at him as someone who can really become a sack artist and, you know, and just get in there, especially on those pure pass situations, get after the quarterback.
[00:15:08] Every year he's gotten a little bit better, but that position is someone where it's somewhere where we need someone else to step up. Even if it's a situation where Thomas is number two under Stewart and rotates in.
[00:15:28] If he can drive up, you know, six, seven sacks, you know, 15, 18 tackles, that's a guy who defenses will have to start to worry about and someone who can take some of the pressure off of Dylan Stewart and the rest of this defensive line.
[00:15:46] And speaking of defensive line, my next candidate here is Monkel Goodwine.
[00:15:51] So he is someone who is in a position group, the defensive tackle group, which is really, as we know, trying to produce or replace, rather a lot of production. Talked about Nick Barrett.
[00:16:07] Nick Barrett and Markel Goodwine are going to be that one, two punch that you're looking to potentially start off this season, right?
[00:16:16] Like, everyone's going to have their chance in this group to earn that playing time. Goodwine is someone that transferred here from Alabama, I want to say, didn't play a ton there, but obviously had the, you know, status, recruiting status, the measurables to go there. Comes to South Carolina. He tallied 10 solo tackles last year in basically a reserve role.
[00:16:41] He has the size.
[00:16:44] He's been in the program for a little bit now, got coached up under Coach Robertson, and I just think he has all the physical tools to be productive. So if you're saying, okay, you know, you had some production last year, you didn't play a ton of snaps, but you were still able to do some good things for us.
[00:17:02] You have the physical attributes, you've had some good coaching.
[00:17:06] He's a candidate for a breakout year because all he has to do is put it all together and embrace that he's going to be playing more. And that's something that I think all of these guys, maybe with the exception of harbor, have to embrace that you're going to have the spotlight on you. I say without harbor because he is used to that. He's had that already.
[00:17:28] So if Goodwine can step up to the plate and take that role of, you know, similar production, you know, if you want to say junior year, Boogie Huntley, right, Like, good, solid numbers, and then you could say, well, all right, he can just take that, you know, additional step. But he was still very productive for us. I'd say that'd be a huge, huge win for this defensive line and defense as a whole.
[00:17:55] And sticking with the defense here, my last candidate for a breakout year is Fred J.R. johnson. Okay? He is someone that the staff has been high on for a while now.
[00:18:06] True freshman. Last year, they talked about him a lot. He'd only played sparingly.
[00:18:11] Linebackers were stacked last year.
[00:18:14] But that group now is going to need some help. And even though Fred didn't play a ton of games last year, he has the ability. And again, I keep going back to this. A second off season in the playbook, in the weight room, and now understands probably better, better what the coaches expect of him. And I think he can execute on that. Now, we're going to need a breakout player in that linebacking group somewhere, right? I think it's Fred JR Johnson, younger player, been with the program for a little bit now. He's a full year smarter, bigger, faster, stronger.
[00:18:56] And again, if you look back in this list, if you give me three guys here who live up to the billing and take that next step, you know, and assuming everyone else kind of, you know, takes a baby step forward, I think that's a huge win, you know, and looking at this list now, if I had to pick three Harbor, Brian Thomas, and honestly, probably Fred J.R. johnson, you know, I think the running back group is deep enough where if Howell continues to progress and have a good season, you know, if you want to say like 250 yards, four touchdowns, something like that, 300 yard, you know, like, be productive, like, I think we can live with that assuming, you know, the rest of the group steps up. But we need another pass rusher to have a really good year and we need a linebacker at least, really to just have a really good year. And I think, I think J R Johnson can do that. But with that, y', all, 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, subscribe and review the podcast. I will see y' all in about two weeks.
[00:20:16] I appreciate all y'. All. Go Cox.
