And plugging along as best they can. I hope they can win the division when the injured guys return.

Anyone know why he didn’t get any minutes last night?

Hot pile of garbage

She is the GOAT in the totality of WBB... college, WNBA, National player and college coach

Now that the Olympics are almost done and Dawn will be heading back to USC home soon, I have a few qtns.
1) 2022 & 2023 recruiting. One birdie in the cage (mho, A Watkins: great). With new covid issues/restrictions will the recruiting get to go back to near normal? Are Baker & Cooper only 2022 possibilities? Who? 2023, there seems to be high level ladies that USC is recruiting. Any ideas on the best fits?
2) when does official practices start? Access to practices? Media? Public?
3) physical play? After watching some of the play in the Olympic Games, it reminds me of the body checking that Stanford used in the championship game. Is the college game going to evolve into this physical type game? Moving screens, holding, pushing in the paint (I call it mugging). Several top players (according to espn) didn’t make the U19 and U17 teams. Was it because they weren’t physical enough?
4) rotating players into the play on a grand scale. A way to get players involved and a way to share playing minutes. Will it work? Will it attract top level recruits?
5) the big unknown! How will Covid effect the season?

I previously posted and you provided great recommendations for wineries and restaurants for my trip in late August so thank you! I have dinner and winery reservations booked.

Now I’m looking for recommendations for things to do when not at wineries. Thanks in advance for suggestions!

Monday: Practice No. 4 (offensive players available to the media post-practice around noon)
Tuesday: Practice No. 5 (media can watch the first five periods, defensive players available to the media post-practice around noon)
Wednesday: Off day
Thursday: Practice No. 6 (No media availability)
Friday: Practice No. 7 (Open to media for the first four periods)
Saturday: Practice No. 8 (Scrimmage, Shane Beamer available to the media around 5 p.m.)
Sunday: No practice

Team will practice in the morning Monday and Tuesday then will start around 3 p.m. the rest of the week.

Congrats! USA! USA! USA!

security could not catch this speedy field rusher, but before he can vault fence and make a getaway ball girl cuts him off and over

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I have always said there is no playbook or manual other than the Bible. Just searching for something positive. I know we are not alone.

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Gamecock coaches and players met with the media on Thursday afternoon, and GamecockCentral.com was on hand to gather more information in advance of practice kicking off this morning.

I was able to round up some interesting nuggets in all three phases of the game, so let's dive in...

SCOOP ON SPECIALISTS

*** Special teams coordinator Pete Lembo got his first look at many of the candidates to become South Carolina's primary kick and punt returners back in the spring.

As preseason opens, the same core group of players will draw repetitions, while Lembo will also throw freshman back JuJu McDowell into the mix.

"JuJu, based on his high school productivity as a kick returner, is absolutely a guy we need to take a hard look at in camp," Lembo told me.

While Lembo did not say this explicitly, I came away from the conversation thinking that Josh Vann and Dakereon Joyner may enter camp as the front runners for the punt and kick returner jobs respectively.

Lembo said that Vann had a really good spring back there and that he was "very comfortable" returning punts, while also carrying the ability to return kicks. Joyner, Lembo said, was "very steady" and classified him as a "savvy guy that I can trust a lot."

Jalen Brooks was also mentioned as a kick returner based on spring experience and production, while Ahmarean Brown and Rico Powers have also gotten some consideration for the punt job.

It seems that Lembo is looking for more consistency out of ZaQuandre White and Rashad Amos, but wants to give both opportunities in camp as return men. Trey Adkins, a former walk-on receiver who's now on scholarship, is another emergency option there.

*** I also took the opportunity to ask Lembo about his philosophy in terms of allocating scholarships to specialists. Does he favor the preferred walk-on route, or is he open to giving scholarships to kickers, punters, or even snappers?

Lembo smartly pointed out that part of your philosophy depends on the program. At Rice, he said, you're probably not getting lots of walk-ons because of the difficulty in getting into school.

At South Carolina, on the other hand...

"We are fortunate as a major state university that has a great academic reputation that we have guys that are interested in coming here as a preferred walk-on. That's a wonderful development system, feeder system. Now, you know exactly what you're getting. The risk is minimized if you take a guy that's already in your program and putting him on scholarship. You've seen him perform day in and day out and earn that versus running the risk of guy that doesn't quite live up to what you thought he would be when you recruited him and then for four years you feel like may be, great kid, but he's not as strong a player as you were hoping for. Ideally, you can bring in really good preferred walk-ons, develop then, and eventually put them on scholarship," Lembo explained.

This staff inherited a couple scholarship specialists in Kai Kroeger and Mitch Jeter, and we already knew heading into this 2022 cycle that South Carolina would not look to bring in a scholarship player at either of those slots. It seems that, at least for the time being, Lembo will stick with the PWO route.

If a need does arise on the roster, Lembo said that he believes finding a quality scholarship specialist is a "six to eight month" process.

TRENCH TALK

*** Offensive line coach Greg Adkins has been around the game for quite some time. He completed his 30th year in coaching at Marshall in 2020 and is now back in the SEC with Shane Beamer, where he'll take a group up front that has some talent and depth - but plenty of room to continue improving.

Adkins said on Thursday that he feels that the offensive line is in better mental and physical shape entering camp than they had been in the past.

With quality run-blocking numbers last season and some talent in the backfield, there's some reason to feel like run-blocking could be classified as this year's strength, too.

There was much discussion among the Gamecock fan base during the season about pass-blocking. While there was a lot that went into some of the struggles on that front in 2020, Adkins has nonetheless identified it as a point of emphasis in camp.

Said Adkins: "Sometimes you've got to look at your weaknesses. We need to improve our pass-blocking ability in all phases. That’s everyone across the board, as a whole group. It's not just one simple thing we've got to fix. Are we going to spend more time on that? Sure, because it's a weakness in my opinion. Delegating a little more time in the pass game is something I've looked at."

*** Adkins also dished a bit on the Gamecocks' offensive scheme and using personnel and matchups to their advantage.

"You never know what you're going to get from us. That's the beauty of what we're looking at here and what you'll hopefully see is an offense that's adaptable to who's available to us and who's not on a weekly basis," he said.

THIRD DOWN RUSH

*** Edge coach Mike Peterson, the lone holdover as far as on-field coaches from Will Muschamp's staff, seems to like his group a lot. In addition to veterans JJ Enagbare and Aaron Sterling, Peterson named his guys one by one when discussing his group.

Tyreek Johnson (who had a good spring according to Peterson), Jordan Burch, Gilber Edmond, Hot Rod Fitten, and transfer Jordan Strachan were all name-dropped by Peterson.

Walk-on Sean McGonigal, too.

"I love him to death," Peterson said. "He just plays so hard for me. He's one of those guys you like having around."

*** My question to Peterson was this: how do feel on third down and 8 this season relative to last year? He smiled and said:

"I feel really good about it as a coach. We'll figure it out as far as who's that guy. Our job as a coach is to find out what does a guy do really well, what position can we put him in to excel. We're going to need everybody."

I also asked if Peterson felt - because of personnel, scheme, or whatever factors there may be - there was more room for creativity and effectiveness rushing the passer.

"Oh yeah. I think that's the advantage when you have a number of guys that can rush the passer. You can create matchup problems, create a different package for this guy. Coach White is excited about it, having some guys up front that he can let loose," he said.

TONKA ON THE MOVE

*** The 2020 season was obviously derailed for South Carolina, but then-true freshman Tonka Hemingway was a bright spot. He quickly overtook other players to earn playing time and showed flashes of his potential.

Hemingway moved inside this offseason and added more good weight to get up to the 300 pound mark. Even though Peterson won't be coaching Hemingway this year, I still wanted to ask him about the sophomore.

"Man," Peterson laughed, shaking his head as soon as I brought up the name. "I had a long talk with him that he's probably best inside because he's young. He's young and his body was growing and he was watching his weight trying to stay at end. I said bro, just let your body go, man. You can easily be a 300 pound guy and still be very athletic."

Peterson, himself a 14-year NFL veteran, thinks highly of Tonka's potential.

"This is a guy, I could see watching him on Sundays."

I've had multiple folks compare Hemingway's demeanor and work ethic to that of former Gamecock DJ Wonnum, who also made an impact as a freshman before going on to become a multi-year starter and an NFL player.

Does Peterson agree with that comparison?

"Oh, first day I saw him, even in recruiting, he reminded me so much of DJ," Peterson said. "He's going to quietly be the first guy here, quietly get extra work in, quietly do everything you want to do and quietly be one of the team leaders or team captains."

LINEBACKER DEPTH

One of South Carolina's most pressing needs entering camp - and ultimately the 2021 season - is to develop some depth at linebacker.

2020 was a challenging year, but for a variety of reasons, the Gamecocks got into some situations where starters last season were playing entirely too many snaps.

Take these three games as an example:

Against Missouri, just three backers played. Ernest Jones played 70 snaps, while Damani Staley pulled down 62 and Mo Kaba saw 13.

Against A&M - it was Staley with 70, Jones with 63, then Brad Johnson played 33 at the SAM position. Mo Kaba played 10, spelling others inside.

The Ole Miss defensive debacle? Ernest Jones played 86 snaps. Damani Staley played 3.

I asked defensive coordinator Clayton White - who also coaches linebackers - about the depth against the backdrop of what happened last season. What are his goals?

"The goal would be to have four guys to play. Hopefully one guy can play two positions, have a third down guy, a rush guy. If you have a five guys, now you're in a great position. Three for sure, three to five guys is what you're looking for. It’s a long season and you want to be fresh and healthy as much as possible," he explained.

As for overall defensive snap counts, White said he's not necessarily tracking it during the game, but that once you get up into the 80 range, you become uncomfortable as a defensive coordinator.

"Obviously, the less you're playing, you're probably playing good, but it can also be the other way," he laughed. "That's why you want to develop depth so you can kind of rotate. You don't want to have a guy playing that many snaps. Sometimes that happens."

*** Any follow-up questions or something I didn't address that you'd like me to address? Let me know.

*** Today's Insider Report is brought to you by Cornerstone Financial Management. Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Good Life Advisors, LLC, a registered investment advisor. Cornerstone Financial Management and Good Life Advisors, LLC are separate entities from LPL Financial.

2 years in a row? I thought we had our non-perm west opponents at home once every 14 years?

Important thing is he knew the Lord as his Savior. He is in a better place now.

NM

--Marcus Satterfield said while Kevin Harris isn't practicing to start fall camp he's not overly worried about if he'll get the preseason All-SEC running back on the field soon. Satterfield said he knows Harris will be "playing for us sooner rather than later,' and he doesn't go to sleep at night thinking, "‘Oh my god he won’t be back." Harris had a back procedure before camp started and Shane Beamer said in his press availability Harris is already begging the training staff to get back on the field.

--In talking with defensive coordinator Clayton White, he spoke about three things he wants his defense to be from an identity standpoint: aggressive, disciplined and unpredictable. From an aggression standpoint, a lot of people tend to think that means having a high blitz rate, but in talking with White and defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey, it's more about instilling a more aggressive mindset than it is about sending pressure in odd ways. Once the system is installed, they'll be able to scheme up ways to overload sides or stack numbers to create defensive mismatches.

--Satterfield, speaking about identity, spoke more about letting it happen organically about what South Carolina's going to be offensively with a few key pillars in there. The two biggest things will be physicality and toughness but Satterfield will use preseason camp as a way to figure out who the team's best playmakers are and tailor the offense in a way that puts those guys in space with the ball.

--From a leadership standpoint offensively, Satterfield said Luke Doty, MarShawn Lloyd, Dakereon Joyner and Jovaughn Gwyn have been the guys stepping up in that department.

--Speaking of offensive scheme, in talking with a lot of offensive coaches and players, 12 or even 22 personnel (two tight ends, one running back or two backs, two tight ends) will be used often. That doesn't necessarily mean the Gamecocks are lining up with two tight ends attached to the line of scrimmage but moving them around in the system and putting them in spots where they can potentially take on some mismatches. Nick Muse mentioned him and EJ Jenkins being able to motion out to receiver and Jaheim Bell going from a flex tight end, H-back and being able to be motioned into the backfield.

The staff hasn't been shy about mentioning how much South Carolina plans to incorporate the tight end into its offense, and this quote from Erik Kimrey talking about throwing to the tight end's impact on recruiting was particularly good:

“There are smart kids out there and they’ll see what’s talk and what’s real. I think when you see this offense and see the way coach Satt uses the tight ends, it’s going to be exciting and you’re going to want to come be a part of that type of offense. It’s easy to go to a great school where they’re in 10 personnel a lot or never throw to the tight end because they’re handing the ball off every down. That’s not going to be the case here. I think you’ll see that on Saturdays.”

--More on speaking with White, but he measures defensive success in a lot of different ways. There are different ways to be productive and efficient defensively—i.e. giving up a lot of yards but forcing a lot of turnovers or field goals compared to being a really good middle of the field defense or being really good on third downs—but there are a few ways he personally measures it. One big thing is obviously turnover margin followed by third-down defense and red zone defense. One of the more interesting ones that I haven't really heard before is sudden change defense, which is when a defense is forced back on the field quickly in a disadvantageous spot (like the offense turning the ball over near midfield) and seeing whether or not the defense can force a three and out or a field goal instead of a touchdown. Run defense, pretty much for every defense in the country, will be something coordinators look at, White included.

--ZaQuandre White said Juju McDowell has looked good in player-run practices, calling the freshman "very explosive, very shifty." McDowell was out fielding punts during the open media portion of practice Friday morning.

--OrTre Smith feels great and said his knee situation is "over with now." He and the rest of the receivers hear what's being said about them outside of the building and are confident in what they have and the work they've put in this offseason.

--Brad Johnson will make the switch over to WIL linebacker this season after playing SAM last year. WIL linebacker has a lot of the same responsibilities a SAM does but the key difference is WIL backers are on the field a lot more. SAM backers typically only come in when a team isn't in nickel, and with offenses operating out of 10 or 11 personnel more often it's hard to get out of nickel. WIL backers are in there even in a 4-2-5 base, which was appealing to Johnson. He'll be doing a lot of the same things he was doing as SAM, which includes covering to the boundary, covering tight ends and running backs and setting the edge of the defense in the run game.

--Eric Douglas is very high on this offensive line group entering training camp, calling the group "rock stars." Mentions they have a lot of guys returning with experience and now it's about building on what they did last season in the run game and improving in pass protection.

--Alex Huntley feels 100 percent entering camp after dealing with ankle injuries almost all of last season. Mentions 2020 was one of the hardest years of his life but he got stronger because of it and thinks he can definitely help this defensive tackle group this fall.

I’m always going to give 100 percent effort, always going to keep trying and always going to chase the ball. Really, compete every day in and out of practice. The more you compete, the better each player will be. I’m just ready to compete for a spot and be ready when my name’s called."

Prefer lower deck

• #1

Anyone have any available in lower deck??
Have to take Kids and Grandkids to see Shane Beamers first game.

864 353 6844

I'm sure that Chris and Wes will report something tomorrow. I'm anxious to hear how practices went.

And I'll do the Lasso too...

Apparently suffering from mental health problems. A new coach this year, arriving from Alabama. He coaches as the Special Teams Coordinator. He is stepping away from the team indefinitely. ***Coach Muschamp ***will take on on-field duties in his place.