Alright, here’s a load of testing results and scoop from Carolina’s winter workouts on the whole, as well as the team testing the guys were put through at the end of testing. The team has this week off (for spring break).
Under Joe Connolly, the team’s primary goal in winter workouts was twofold: improve team speed, and improve strength numbers. Head coach Steve Spurrier really wanted the team to put an emphasis on making gains in the speed department in the offseason and Connolly and the strength staff felt like they have done just that by focusing a lot of linear speed.
Overall, the staff was pleased with how the guys stepped up during the offseason. There was obviously a good bit of coaching turnover and I was told the guys didn’t bat an eyelash, and just kept their heads down and worked. There were some guys that led who were expected, and some who surprised. A lot of younger guys had to step up due to some of the normal team leaders who are older guys like Marcus Lattimore, D.J. Swearinger, and Akeem Auguste being limited. Those guys are vocal leaders, but the maturity level of everyone in stepping up and working when put in tough situations was impressive.
Every offseason the strength and conditioning staff does a team competition, and this year they broke it down into offense versus defense. The team had Tuesday night, 10:15 p.m. competitions and runs in the indoor facility which I’m told the guys really responded well to and were fired up all the time.
The defense won the last day with a tug of war (sort of rare, for it to come down to the last day) where the defensive line bested the offensive line. It was a five-on-five event, so the defense was able to win that and take the overall points lead for the win.
Here are some of the overall testing results and notes on each “event”:
Forty yard dash
The top five finishers were Ahmad Christian DeAngelo Smith, Ace Sanders, D.L. Moore, andK.J. Brent. All of those guys ran under 4.5 with Christian taking the best time at 4.39. The way the staff calculates this time is by putting two clocks on each 40 attempt (NFL Combine does one) and then giving them two runs, averaging them together.
NFL Shuttle
The top five guys here were Ace Sanders, Jared Shaw, DeVonte Holloman, Connor Shaw, and D.L. Moore. All of those guys were under 4.2 and Ace Sanders was between 4.0 and 4.1 in his times, which is very impressive.
Speaking of D.L. Moore, I asked specifically about his numbers because they jumped out at me. I was told that a lot of folks look at D.L. because of his height and size and people assume he’s not very athletic, but he really is. For him to finish in the top five of both the forty and the shuttle is a testament to his athleticism.
Broad jump
By the way, the strength staff really likes the broad jump as a measure of athleticism much more than a vertical leap where there’s more room for error.
Devin Taylor, at 270 pounds broad jumped 10-feet-6 inches (very impressive to watch), as did Damario Jeffery so those two had the top measurements in that category. 13 guys jumped over 10 feet.
Vertical Leap
The top performer here was redshirt freshman Ed Muldrow (as we previously reported, going to safety in the spring) at 39 inches. Jimmy Legree, Cadarious Sanders, Jadeveon Clowney, and Connor Shaw round out the top five here.
Power clean
In the power clean, Jadeveon Clowney took the title with a 350-pound lift. Gerald Dixon Jr., A.J. Cann, Byron Jerideau, and T.J. Johnson were the rest of the top five.
Speaking of Dixon Jr., it jumps out that he and Clowney as a pair of second-year guys finished in the top of this event. I was told that Dixon Jr. is a “strong son of a gun” especially for a young guy and the staff almost had to hold him back in the weight room especially in the squat. He’s impressed some folks in the weight room.
Squat
Byron Jerideau shattered his old Gamecock record (I think by about 60 pounds or so), and his squat max came out to 670. They gave him four reps of 600 as well. Impressive thing to see, a guy lifting that much weight butt to floor. Ronald Patrick, Chaun Gresham, T.J. Johnson, and Damario Jeffery round out the top five there.
Bench press
Byron Jerideau wins this one as well with a 450 pound max. Seven guys benched above 400 pounds during winter testing. T.J. Johnson, Gerald Dixon Jr., Kelcy Quarles, and Corey Robinson finished in the top five performers for this category.
Pound for pound
This is something else the staff has always calculated recently. It uses a strength index that takes into account body weight and numbers from three different lifts, and plugs it into a coefficient. That basically levels the playing field between linemen and defensive backs, for example.
I don’t really know what the numbers mean per se, but Byron Jerideau scored a 724.71 which is a new Gamecock record. The previous record was held by Rodney Paulk at 716. Additionally, Kenny Miles scored a 714. That’s the first time the staff has had two guys over 700. 13 guys scored a 600 or better. T.J. Johnson, Chaun Gresham, and Chaz Sutton were other top performers there.
Some individual guys I was told that stood out during workouts as far as their performance and leadership: Connor Shaw, Damario Jeffery, Justice Cunningham, Reggie Bowens, Shaq Wilson, Ace Sanders, Kenny Miles, T.J. Johnson, Byron Jerideau, Kelcy Quarles, Devin Taylor.
Here’s some individual thoughts based on what I’ve heard on a few players:
Senior Kenny Miles: Described to me as one of the “MVPs” of the offseason. He was very, very focused in the offseason and had the best training phase of his Gamecock career. A lot of times guys level off and just try to maintain going into their senior seasons, but Miles actually got better at everything, improving all of his numbers. By the way, I heard recently that it was more likely that Miles would be coming back as of today and he’s certainly working like he’s planning on it.
Sophomore Corey Robinson: The strength staff was pleasantly surprised by Robinson, who is 6-foot-7 and a half and about 330 pounds. He had what was described to me as a “tremendous” offseason in the weight room and the staff is hopeful that it will translate on the football field. I was told his strength numbers were right up there with guys like Devin Taylor and T.J. Johnson.
Redshirt freshman Brandon Shell: With Shell being limited last summer continuing to recovery from labrum surgery, this is really his first true offseason. For a guy that’s around 330 pounds, having a vertical jump over 30 inches is impressive and that’s where Shell is at. I was told he did a good job for a young guy and the strength staff feels like his numbers are at a great starting point for a big, strong offensive lineman.
Junior RB Marcus Lattimore: I was told he’s doing everything in his power, and then some. He pushes so hard that he has to be encouraged to slow down, actually. As far as the weight room, he’s really just about right along with everyone else as far as lifting. He’s pretty much full strength there. He can squat, he can bench, and all of those things. As far as running and agility, he’s doing straight ahead stuff now. During spring ball, he won’t be live on the football field of course but he will be out there with Connolly and trainer Clint Haggard beginning to do some cutting (same deal with Shon Carson). So, everybody is very happy with where he is at right now.
Freshman TE Kelvin Rainey. Of course, Rainey enrolled in January so he’s a young guy. He actually put on around 10 pounds so he’s at 220 right now. As far as strength stuff, he tested through the roof in a lot of it and the staff has been impressed with how bright he is. His attitude has been great as he’s made it known to everyone that he’s willing to play whatever role the staff wants him to in order to help out the team.
Sophomore Sharrod Golightly: As I’ve mentioned previously, Golightly is a candidate to work at SPUR this spring. To that end, the staff wanted him to put on some weight to eventually get up 190, 195 pounds. He’s gained eight-ten pounds in the offseason.
Sophomore Kelcy Quarles was described to me as being in “fantastic shape”. He’s 6-foot-3 and a half and the staff wanted him to add some mass, and he responded. He’s checking in at 290 pounds.
Senior Byron Jerideau is someone the staff wanted to subtract some weight from in the offseason. He lost around 20 pounds or so and he’s weighing in at about 315. He had, from what I was told, one of the more impressive offseasons that anybody at USC has seen.
Senior Aldrick Fordham put on another five pounds. Redshirt freshman Phillip Dukes had to subtract a little bit and did, he’s about an even 300 right now. Connor Shaw is in the 207-210 range. The staff wanted to add some weight to him in the offseason to make him more durable. They feel he will play at around 210-215 pounds during the season, which is a good weight for him.
Senior Shaq Wilson maintained his weight in the winter, which is what the staff wanted. He’s about 223, which is a perfect playing weight and he’s still got his speed. He was a little bit heavy at one time, so the staff brought him back down.
Sophomore Jadeveon Clowney is 260 pounds and right where he needs to be. He was another the staff felt had a tremendous offseason. When a guy is 6-foot-6, 260-pounds and power cleaning 350 pounds, those are good numbers. Clowney is a guy that loves competition, and he always answered the call when put in competitive situations during the offseason.
Sophomore Damiere Byrd did not participate in the football testing (he wanted to but because of track, etc. he did not), but the staff felt like he would have blown everyone away in the forty yard dash unsurprisingly. He did add some weight recently, so he’s about 170 pounds.
Senior linebacker Reggie Bowens added 10 pounds this offseason. He’s 255 pounds and running well and the staff thinks he looks great. Everyone thinks he’s poised to take another step after finally remaining healthy last season and playing a key role on defense.
Sophomore Buster Anderson was another who played a key role in the 2011 season, and did it as an undersized true freshman. The staff knew he needed to put on a little weight as he was around 209, and now he’s 218 pounds. His strength numbers are up, his 40 time and vertical are very good. His body fat percentage is also just seven percent, so he’s another that had a productive offseason.
Thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed!
This post was edited on 3/5 2:31 PM by Chris Clark
This post was edited on 3/5 2:49 PM by Chris Clark
Under Joe Connolly, the team’s primary goal in winter workouts was twofold: improve team speed, and improve strength numbers. Head coach Steve Spurrier really wanted the team to put an emphasis on making gains in the speed department in the offseason and Connolly and the strength staff felt like they have done just that by focusing a lot of linear speed.
Overall, the staff was pleased with how the guys stepped up during the offseason. There was obviously a good bit of coaching turnover and I was told the guys didn’t bat an eyelash, and just kept their heads down and worked. There were some guys that led who were expected, and some who surprised. A lot of younger guys had to step up due to some of the normal team leaders who are older guys like Marcus Lattimore, D.J. Swearinger, and Akeem Auguste being limited. Those guys are vocal leaders, but the maturity level of everyone in stepping up and working when put in tough situations was impressive.
Every offseason the strength and conditioning staff does a team competition, and this year they broke it down into offense versus defense. The team had Tuesday night, 10:15 p.m. competitions and runs in the indoor facility which I’m told the guys really responded well to and were fired up all the time.
The defense won the last day with a tug of war (sort of rare, for it to come down to the last day) where the defensive line bested the offensive line. It was a five-on-five event, so the defense was able to win that and take the overall points lead for the win.
Here are some of the overall testing results and notes on each “event”:
Forty yard dash
The top five finishers were Ahmad Christian DeAngelo Smith, Ace Sanders, D.L. Moore, andK.J. Brent. All of those guys ran under 4.5 with Christian taking the best time at 4.39. The way the staff calculates this time is by putting two clocks on each 40 attempt (NFL Combine does one) and then giving them two runs, averaging them together.
NFL Shuttle
The top five guys here were Ace Sanders, Jared Shaw, DeVonte Holloman, Connor Shaw, and D.L. Moore. All of those guys were under 4.2 and Ace Sanders was between 4.0 and 4.1 in his times, which is very impressive.
Speaking of D.L. Moore, I asked specifically about his numbers because they jumped out at me. I was told that a lot of folks look at D.L. because of his height and size and people assume he’s not very athletic, but he really is. For him to finish in the top five of both the forty and the shuttle is a testament to his athleticism.
Broad jump
By the way, the strength staff really likes the broad jump as a measure of athleticism much more than a vertical leap where there’s more room for error.
Devin Taylor, at 270 pounds broad jumped 10-feet-6 inches (very impressive to watch), as did Damario Jeffery so those two had the top measurements in that category. 13 guys jumped over 10 feet.
Vertical Leap
The top performer here was redshirt freshman Ed Muldrow (as we previously reported, going to safety in the spring) at 39 inches. Jimmy Legree, Cadarious Sanders, Jadeveon Clowney, and Connor Shaw round out the top five here.
Power clean
In the power clean, Jadeveon Clowney took the title with a 350-pound lift. Gerald Dixon Jr., A.J. Cann, Byron Jerideau, and T.J. Johnson were the rest of the top five.
Speaking of Dixon Jr., it jumps out that he and Clowney as a pair of second-year guys finished in the top of this event. I was told that Dixon Jr. is a “strong son of a gun” especially for a young guy and the staff almost had to hold him back in the weight room especially in the squat. He’s impressed some folks in the weight room.
Squat
Byron Jerideau shattered his old Gamecock record (I think by about 60 pounds or so), and his squat max came out to 670. They gave him four reps of 600 as well. Impressive thing to see, a guy lifting that much weight butt to floor. Ronald Patrick, Chaun Gresham, T.J. Johnson, and Damario Jeffery round out the top five there.
Bench press
Byron Jerideau wins this one as well with a 450 pound max. Seven guys benched above 400 pounds during winter testing. T.J. Johnson, Gerald Dixon Jr., Kelcy Quarles, and Corey Robinson finished in the top five performers for this category.
Pound for pound
This is something else the staff has always calculated recently. It uses a strength index that takes into account body weight and numbers from three different lifts, and plugs it into a coefficient. That basically levels the playing field between linemen and defensive backs, for example.
I don’t really know what the numbers mean per se, but Byron Jerideau scored a 724.71 which is a new Gamecock record. The previous record was held by Rodney Paulk at 716. Additionally, Kenny Miles scored a 714. That’s the first time the staff has had two guys over 700. 13 guys scored a 600 or better. T.J. Johnson, Chaun Gresham, and Chaz Sutton were other top performers there.
Some individual guys I was told that stood out during workouts as far as their performance and leadership: Connor Shaw, Damario Jeffery, Justice Cunningham, Reggie Bowens, Shaq Wilson, Ace Sanders, Kenny Miles, T.J. Johnson, Byron Jerideau, Kelcy Quarles, Devin Taylor.
Here’s some individual thoughts based on what I’ve heard on a few players:
Senior Kenny Miles: Described to me as one of the “MVPs” of the offseason. He was very, very focused in the offseason and had the best training phase of his Gamecock career. A lot of times guys level off and just try to maintain going into their senior seasons, but Miles actually got better at everything, improving all of his numbers. By the way, I heard recently that it was more likely that Miles would be coming back as of today and he’s certainly working like he’s planning on it.
Sophomore Corey Robinson: The strength staff was pleasantly surprised by Robinson, who is 6-foot-7 and a half and about 330 pounds. He had what was described to me as a “tremendous” offseason in the weight room and the staff is hopeful that it will translate on the football field. I was told his strength numbers were right up there with guys like Devin Taylor and T.J. Johnson.
Redshirt freshman Brandon Shell: With Shell being limited last summer continuing to recovery from labrum surgery, this is really his first true offseason. For a guy that’s around 330 pounds, having a vertical jump over 30 inches is impressive and that’s where Shell is at. I was told he did a good job for a young guy and the strength staff feels like his numbers are at a great starting point for a big, strong offensive lineman.
Junior RB Marcus Lattimore: I was told he’s doing everything in his power, and then some. He pushes so hard that he has to be encouraged to slow down, actually. As far as the weight room, he’s really just about right along with everyone else as far as lifting. He’s pretty much full strength there. He can squat, he can bench, and all of those things. As far as running and agility, he’s doing straight ahead stuff now. During spring ball, he won’t be live on the football field of course but he will be out there with Connolly and trainer Clint Haggard beginning to do some cutting (same deal with Shon Carson). So, everybody is very happy with where he is at right now.
Freshman TE Kelvin Rainey. Of course, Rainey enrolled in January so he’s a young guy. He actually put on around 10 pounds so he’s at 220 right now. As far as strength stuff, he tested through the roof in a lot of it and the staff has been impressed with how bright he is. His attitude has been great as he’s made it known to everyone that he’s willing to play whatever role the staff wants him to in order to help out the team.
Sophomore Sharrod Golightly: As I’ve mentioned previously, Golightly is a candidate to work at SPUR this spring. To that end, the staff wanted him to put on some weight to eventually get up 190, 195 pounds. He’s gained eight-ten pounds in the offseason.
Sophomore Kelcy Quarles was described to me as being in “fantastic shape”. He’s 6-foot-3 and a half and the staff wanted him to add some mass, and he responded. He’s checking in at 290 pounds.
Senior Byron Jerideau is someone the staff wanted to subtract some weight from in the offseason. He lost around 20 pounds or so and he’s weighing in at about 315. He had, from what I was told, one of the more impressive offseasons that anybody at USC has seen.
Senior Aldrick Fordham put on another five pounds. Redshirt freshman Phillip Dukes had to subtract a little bit and did, he’s about an even 300 right now. Connor Shaw is in the 207-210 range. The staff wanted to add some weight to him in the offseason to make him more durable. They feel he will play at around 210-215 pounds during the season, which is a good weight for him.
Senior Shaq Wilson maintained his weight in the winter, which is what the staff wanted. He’s about 223, which is a perfect playing weight and he’s still got his speed. He was a little bit heavy at one time, so the staff brought him back down.
Sophomore Jadeveon Clowney is 260 pounds and right where he needs to be. He was another the staff felt had a tremendous offseason. When a guy is 6-foot-6, 260-pounds and power cleaning 350 pounds, those are good numbers. Clowney is a guy that loves competition, and he always answered the call when put in competitive situations during the offseason.
Sophomore Damiere Byrd did not participate in the football testing (he wanted to but because of track, etc. he did not), but the staff felt like he would have blown everyone away in the forty yard dash unsurprisingly. He did add some weight recently, so he’s about 170 pounds.
Senior linebacker Reggie Bowens added 10 pounds this offseason. He’s 255 pounds and running well and the staff thinks he looks great. Everyone thinks he’s poised to take another step after finally remaining healthy last season and playing a key role on defense.
Sophomore Buster Anderson was another who played a key role in the 2011 season, and did it as an undersized true freshman. The staff knew he needed to put on a little weight as he was around 209, and now he’s 218 pounds. His strength numbers are up, his 40 time and vertical are very good. His body fat percentage is also just seven percent, so he’s another that had a productive offseason.
Thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoyed!
This post was edited on 3/5 2:31 PM by Chris Clark
This post was edited on 3/5 2:49 PM by Chris Clark
