Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks. Ten reasons to be excited about South Carolina football this upcoming season. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:52] Okay. Welcome to episode 253 of Cox Talking Game Cox. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And summer is just rolling along, y'all. I mean, we are at the end of July, before you know it, we're going to have NFL preseason football. We got through SEC media days, and the light at the end of the tunnel for the long, quiet, hot off season is in sight. Absolutely love it here. Appreciate you all tuning in for a good episode today. And for anyone who listened last episode to the Kai Kroger interview, thank you. I hope you really enjoyed it. And if you're hearing me say that now and you're like, what the hell is this guy talking about? Do yourself a favor. I won't be offended. Stop listening to this episode right now and go to the previous one where I sat down with Kai Kroger for about 20 minutes or so and we talked all things Carolina football, nil college football game. It was a really, really cool conversation. Kai is quickly becoming a great friend of the program. He's such a just a cool, down to earth normal guy, but hope you all really appreciate that. Got a quick note for y'all here before I dive into the episode here. As I mentioned in the past, I am moving down to the Carolinas. I'm moving down to Charlotte, back to the south, which has called to me for quite some time now to get back there. But as such, moving is an absolute pain in the ass. And there's a gap between when my lease ends and the lease starts in Charlotte. So it's going to be really herky jerky in my life. So as such, the schedule for the podcast will get a little wonky, whereas I think next week there will not be an episode. So the week of July 29, so that Friday, I think that's August 2, there won't be an episode. Maybe I'll go ahead and repost the Kai Kroger one, make it easier for people to find it, but there won't be anything new, content wise from the podcast. And then after that, it's a full sprint, previewing the football season and everything like that. We'll do breakdowns of the season game by game, how I always have done season predictions, and then before we know it, the preview for Old Dominion for week one will be there. And I don't want to promise it just yet, but your boy might have to go to the opener. I'm only going to be a short drive away. Haven't been to an opener since I was an undergrad, so might just have to make an appearance there. But yes, no podcasts next week and then we'll be right back to it, hopefully with some really cool content because I'll be close to campus and everything like that. But yes, let's dive into things here. Wanted to talk about reasons to be excited for South Carolina football. Things that I'm looking forward to, that I'm really excited about. I wrote down a top ten list, but before we get into that, y'all already know it's the off season. We're still doing it. My handy dandy Gamecock trivia calendar here right on my desk. Let's see what we got. It is a piece of trivia today.
[00:04:26] Before he headed to Columbia to play tight end for the Gamecocks football team, Hayden Hearst played pro baseball for two years in the minor leagues. In what MLB team's farm system did Hearst play? 2013 to 2014. I actually know this somehow. Remembered them talking about this when watching a game.
[00:04:46] The Pittsburgh Pirates. Shout out Hayden hurst. Shout out to the garnet Thor. What a guy. That, like, really cool period of time. Like the Hayden Hurst experiment, the Haydenhurst experience, if you will. The team was, you know, an interesting one, but Hayden Hurst, like, really just kind of came out of nowhere, more or less, and just surprised us all. You remember when that team was having a really hard time fielding punts, just simply, they couldn't hold on to the ball. And I'm pretty sure at one point they just put him back there. Like, we're not expecting you to juke anybody. Just go out there and catch the damn ball. And that's what. That's what he did. But that. That offensive attack, it had its moments. But, man, when you look at some of those players who were on the. On the same side of the ball, Hayden, Brian Edwards, shy Smith.
[00:05:39] Did Debo overlap with them? I mean, he might overlap with Hayden, but Bryan Edwards, Shy Smith, Hayden Hurst, just dudes. Dudes. And, you know, just unfortunately, though, that squad didn't really materialize. Like, it maybe could have and should have based on paper here. But we're not looking backwards. We're looking forwards to this upcoming season, which is the perfect segue to discuss my top ten things that I'm looking forward to or whatever we want to call it here. Ten reasons to be excited for South Carolina Gamecocks football this upcoming season. This list is not necessarily in order, but it was one of those deals where I sat down, what's my top ten? And it's like a little bit easier to do things at the top because it's what you're most excited for. So a loose order here, right? But I'll give them in order and then talk about each one here. Number one, Nick harbor. Absolutely cannot wait to see him back on the field. I know that he was running track, trying to work his way towards the Olympics. He is a dual sport athlete so his route running might not be as polished as it would have been if he had spring practice. Maybe a little bit of the chemistry with Lenoris and Dowel, some of the wrinkles they're putting in, maybe it's a little bit different or behind than it would had he gotten those practices. But every report that you read has him. He was as present as he possibly could be in the spring and in the summer. Since he stopped track he's been working independently with Lenoris. Just understanding the playbook, working on his route running. He's going to be better. He was very raw last year. He's just an athlete. But he got better as the year went on and you saw the coaches trusting him to do more and more. So if he takes that next step and can average several catches a game instead of just a blip on the radar here and there, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with. And I venture to say that Dowel Loggins is going to be willing to turn it loose more with him.
[00:07:59] Maybe it's go routes, maybe it's jet sweeps, crossing routes, you know, pop passes, get him in space, use his speed. He understands the game. Now he has said himself that he has feels that the game has slowed down from year one to year two. That's exactly what you want to hear. I'm a huge harbor fan. I think we all are. I was ecstatic when he committed to us. I really, really, really wanted to see more of him last year. I just don't think he was ready. I don't think the hands were ready. I don't think the route running was ready, which is unfortunate because that team last year really needed that solid wide receiver too. But nonetheless, number one reason to be excited is Nick Harbour and everything that he possibly can bring to the team. Number two, Lenore Sellers, the guy that's going to be throwing to him. And he might be number one for a lot of people here, man. Understandably so. Lenoris, it's that old school type of situation where he's not a transfer, he committed to you originally, he waited his turn red. Sure. Year you saw the flashes and now you're excited to see the full thing. And there's every reason in the world to be excited by everything that you read, by everything that you see. His ceiling is really the limit. Right? The ceiling is the roof. Right like there. He has everything in his bag to be one of the better quarterbacks in the SEC and by extension the country. Now, I don't necessarily think that's going to happen this year, but I do think we're going to see solid quarterback play from him. There's going to be bumps in the road. There's just going to be. He's a red shirt freshman. He's only played in what, three games? Less than ten snaps. There's going to be growing pains. I love that we open with a cupcake and not against UNC or something like that, but when he can get to, you know, really that first bye week, I think everything will slow down for him a lot, but everything points to the direction of him being a really, really good quarterback. He may have to grow into it a little bit, but I think that Dowel Loggins is going to scheme up a lot of things to use his athleticism to make the decision making a little easier when he does have to throw it. And I think he has the confidence to go out there against the best that he's going to face and even when the team is maybe facing some adversity to go out there and lead those guys. So absolutely am excited for the opportunity ahead. For the Lenora Sellers, number three, the linebackers. This is the best linebacking core that South Carolina has had in like a decade, easily. You know, we've had good individual linebackers scattered throughout. Right.
[00:11:01] But, you know, Ernest Jones comes to mind. But as a group, as a collective, this has the potential to be the best that we've seen in quite some time. Debo, if he continues to play at that level, he can be an all SEC type of guy this upcoming season. The transfers that we brought in with Camara and Knight, those guys are going to bring athleticism to the position that they frankly did not have last year. You're also bringing in some good experience, right? You're getting a little bit of power five experience, more than a little bit of with, with those transfers, right. And then you have a lot of football, right. I believe it's night coming from Charlotte, Camara, coming from Pitt. So you're getting good experience there. Then you also have a guy named Bam Martin Scott who slowly over the years has developed more and more and more. You really saw him come on hard at the end of last year.
[00:11:58] Pause. But I'm excited for what he can bring to the table. You have a couple of freshmen that this staff is high on, a guy like Jaron Willis, who was really there as a depth piece to say, to say the most kindly last year, but he played last year. And then you also have a guy by the name of Mo Kabba who now can totally take his time. The staff can work him in little by little, and even if he sees the field sparingly, that's experience you can bring on there. So that's what, three, four or even five linebackers that you can feel confident in week one. And that's not even saying when you get to the middle of the year, end of the year, where you have some of these freshmen who have gotten that significant playing times, really excited for that, and then sticking on the defensive side here, number four is the defensive line. I love that the interior of guys remain the same. Tonka boogie Tjdeh, you're also bringing in some of that more experience with Kyle Kennard, Deandre Jules, these are guys who are older, they're experienced at the power five level and are going to bring that extra edge to this defensive line. Gilbert Edmund, JT Gere these guys who maybe were middle of the road performers can now be able to flourish under this system. But the defensive line is as deep as we've seen, certainly under the Beamer era, but the deepest it's been in several years. Really so very excited for that. That's going to allow this defensive staff to rotate guys in regularly. They'll be able to be fresher at the end of games and keep an eye out for DeAndre Jules. You know, I think he's going to play a big, big role on that defensive line up the middle as well. I think Boogie Huntley is going to have a nice season. Tonka Hemingway, he's can, he can do it all, and there's just a lot of reason to be excited for that defensive line. Which brings me to number five on the defensive line, Dylan Stewart.
[00:14:14] And this might be a little recency bias, but the picture that he posted today on Twitter showing just, I don't even know what you want to call it, transformation change, just from his arrival on campus or maybe that was his recruiting visit. Just, you know, it's a picture just, you know, I guess getting ready to work out. He didn't have a shirt on. He posted one without a shirt on from from recently and he is an absolute monster. I mean, that's a freak athlete who's dedicated to his craft, plus an SEC strength and conditioning crew, plus the nutrition at USC, he looks like an absolute monster. And it's funny because he's one of the highest rated recruits ever to commit to South Carolina and he has all of the tools to come in and be able to be effective as a freshman. Now, he might not be all SEC his freshman year, but you think of a guy like Jadavian Clowney his freshman year. Like, yeah, he did a lot, but the coaching staff did a really good job at putting him in just simplified situations where, hey, it's passing down, ping your ears back and do what you can. They didn't confuse him with, you know, coverages and, you know, run stopping and things like that. Now, he did do those things, but you can keep it simple with a guy like Dylan Stewart for the first few weeks. Let him grow into the position, learn from a guy like Kyle Kennard or even Gilbert Edmond about techniques and things like that.
[00:15:55] So I am incredibly excited to see what he brings to the table. He can be someone that the country is talking about towards the end of the year here and can grow to be a difference maker. Last year, this team struggled mightily to get after the quarterback, to put any kind of pressure on the quarterback.
[00:16:14] Knock on wood. That's going to be much, much, much less of an issue, if any, this year just by having four or five legitimately good edge rushers. But then you have a deepen interior defensive line. It's going to make everything easier for everybody. The defense in general. You got a lot of reasons to be excited about. Number six on the list here, the running backs. I've talked about this before on the show, completely revamped that room. Kudos to Shane Beamer, offensive staff. They completely revamped that room. That room was a sight for sore eyes, to say it nicely, last year. But rocket Sanders, I mean, I am so ecstatic for him. Everyone is huge, huge addition to the running back group if he can emulate that 2022 season when he was fully healthy. You have an all SEC running back on your team and that makes everything easier. It makes the Norris's life easier. It makes the wide receiver's life easier. It makes everything easier. Even if he's 80% of that. I'll take that because you got Oscar Attaway, you got Juwan Howell, and then you got guys like DJ who have been on this on the team already, but there's just so much more depth. There's actual running back experience in that group. Every reason in the world to be excited there.
[00:17:42] Number seven, Josh Simon. I really like Josh Simon when he committed to us when he transferred here, I believe from western Kentucky before last season, he was an intriguing prospect. A real athletic tight end. Almost kind of made you think of Jahim Bell like a guy who can do it all type of deal.
[00:18:02] Trey Knox was tight end one last year. He did a fantastic job when he got hurt towards the end of last year, you saw Josh really step up and show off some of those skills. I expect that. I expect some more of that from him. I expect him to be featured. I expect the tight ends in general to be featured a lot better or a lot more. Excuse me, this go around. So very excited for him.
[00:18:29] Moving right along here, number eight, the safeties. I mean, Nick and Manwori DQ. Kilgore. These three guys have all of the athleticism you want. They have the experience. They got the toughness, they have the leadership to really tan down that or handle that back end of the defense. And again, every reason in the world to be excited about this defense because at every level you have experience, you have leadership, but especially when you look at the front seven and then the safeties, you're really looking at on either ends of the defense there. This, you kind of got it covered. No pun intended. But I'm really excited for this year's campaign, especially for Nicki Minwari. If he can start the year healthy and remain healthy, he's going to be fantastic. You know, he didn't start the year off super healthy last year. He was fighting through some injuries, but you saw him get stronger as the year went on. So if he can get off on the right foot this year, expect some big things from him. And then sticking with the defense here at number nine, I am excited for the defensive formations. I know that's kind of interesting thing to put, but we all know that at the end of last year, Clayton White simplified his system, but then he also added a wrinkle. So sort of ironic to use the word simplified, but I think that's what he did. But normally he liked to live in the four two five or maybe the nickel, but when he instituted that three three five, it allowed more of those athletic linebackers, like a guy like Bam Martin Scott to see the field and it was more effective. The defense, those that last month, maybe five weeks really looked very well. Like, you know, they had their moments. But, you know, you even think of the Clemson game that's an incredibly low scoring affair.
[00:20:27] We had every reason in the world to be in but really win that game, and it's because of the defense doing such a good job. So I would very much think that they're going to keep that up because it works so well.
[00:20:42] But being able to be multiple and have the four two five and then the three three five, it just makes you that much harder to prepare for from an opponent's standpoint, right? So I absolutely think that he'll keep it up. I'm excited for that. And when you go back to this list earlier and you have all these great linebackers, why not get more of them on the field? I know we got edge rusher, so maybe having four down, you know, it's kind of a good problem to have here, but very excited to see how the defense looks formation wise. And then rounding out the list here at number ten is, of course, Willie B atmosphere. I'm excited for it. You know, maybe the excitement level from your average fan is not as high this offseason as it was last year, but we all know that Williams Bryce is going to be rocking, especially early in the year. We all know that for those big games like Ole Miss, it's going to be going down. It's going to be fantastic. And yeah, maybe this is me putting here selfishly because I'll finally be able to get some more games, but I there's just nothing better than college football, and there's nothing better than Williams Bryce at a big game, especially at night. You absolutely love it. So very excited for this season. That's only ten reasons.
[00:21:59] I'm sure in conversations we could have ten more, 50 more, but it's right around the corner. Plenty of reason to be excited. But with that, y'all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or Xdev is Cox gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show, Cox talking Gamecocks. And please, like, subscribe and review the podcast. No show next week. Reminder. But I appreciate all y'all go Cox.
