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Wes Mitchell
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RUNNING BACK COACH UPDATE:
** As of Friday morning, we're not aware of a leading candidate emerging in the running back coach search, though we're continuing to track that situation and have been told that there's been a lot of strong interest in the position.
Georgia Southern running backs coach Chris Foster is a name that we had heard a lot about early on but are now being told that he's not going to be the hire. It does, however, appear that Foster is set to take the ECU running backs coach position, but to be clear, he we never offered by South Carolina - the Gamecocks will go a different direction there.
While obviously it's ultimately going to be Shane Beamer's final say and he's personally involved in the hire, as you would expect, we're told that offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield is also highly involved in the hire.
We mentioned Jay Graham in our initial "names to watch" list and we're told that Beamer and Graham did talk very soon after the job opened, but Graham is reportedly going to Alabama and that deal appears to have been pretty far along before the running backs job at South Carolina opened.
Some other names that we've been keeping an eye on are Florida A&M head coach and former Clemson QB Willie Simmons, Charlotte running backs coach and former Tennessee RB Montario Hardesty, and Carolina Panthers assistant running backs/offensive line coach E.J. Barthel. Do not take this to be a comprehensive list, as there are other names out there as well, that we aren't in a position to mention yet.
To reiterate something that Chris reported earlier this week, while I understand the big picture perception of another coach leaving, it was reiterated to me that Des Kitchings saw it as too good of an opportunity to turn down the chance to coach in the NFL, not far from home, and with some of his coaching buddies.
Kitchings actually had some other college opportunities and interest from an NFL team come up, but would not have left South Carolina for any of those. In fact, he was genuinely excited about the direction of the program and believes that there are good, hungry, intelligent coaches in the football facility who are excited to prove themselves.
RECRUITING NOTES:
** Just to recap where things stand with the numbers right now, with the pledge of the St. Francis duo earlier this week, South Carolina now has just three "initial counter" scholarships left for the 2021 class. While there ultimately may be an opportunity to count a late transfer forward to the 2022 class if players pop up in the portal after the spring and are willing to wait until August, the three scholarships that are left are considered a "hard cap" on the additional prospects that the Gamecocks are able to add between now and August. So keep in mind, even if Carolina doesn't use the final three during next week's signing day, it can still be used on transfers who hit the portal after the spring and would allow them to go ahead and enroll and go through summer workouts.
** One prospect I've been gathering information on is Mobile (Ala.) Baker 2021 cornerback LaDareyen Craig, who landed an offer from the Gamecocks on Monday. Since then, Craig has also added scholarships from Mississippi State and Oregon State.
A 6-foot-3, 178-pounder with a 4.38-second 40-yard-dash, Craig was once considered a non-qualifier but has busted his tail to put himself in position to qualify and is now seeing his recruitment take off late, with those three offers and several other schools showing heavy interest as well.
Information on where Craig may be leaning has been difficult to come by and will also be determined by what other offers he gets in the next five days. But this is the type of late, resourceful pick-up that could help the Gamecocks considering that the lack of early interest during the process had nothing to do with ability. Craig not only has the size that schools covet but he also excels in man coverage and I've been told impressed the coaching staff's of opponents by shutting down some future college receivers on an island.
He's one of a handful of prospects we'll be tracking leading into next Wednesday.
** Another that we're still watching is Montgomery (Ala.) Carver three-star safety Juwon Gaston, who had been considered a heavy South Carolina lean before landing an offer from Auburn last week. It's always difficult to land a prospect from the state of Alabama who the Tigers or Tide want, and our Auburn Rivals site is very confident in the Tigers' chances. It's worth pointing out that we were told that Gaston has remained in touch with South Carolina this week. There has also been a sentiment that Gaston may be looking to leave the state. Put it this way, in most cases the Auburn pull will hold up in these situations but we're not ready to write off the Gamecocks yet here and will continue to track it moving forward to Wednesday.
** Diving into a couple of underclassmen now, I had the opportunity to watch Irmo (S.C.) Dutch Fork class of 2022 wide receiver Antonio Williams at a 7-on-7 practice last week and left impressed with the Gamecock target. In my eyes, Williams is extremely underrated as a current low three-star prospect due to being a relative unknown prior to this season (was injured the year before), but he's got 17 offers to his name so far and probably is headed for four-star status if I had to project a future rating. As it was put to me by someone who watches Williams every week, he's "just different" in that his athletic ability and smoothness in and out of breaks makes him nearly impossible to cover at the high school level.
Williams has been a huge early priority for both Dutch Fork alum Erik Kimrey and new wide receivers coach Justin Stepp, who made it a point to quickly re-offer Williams shortly after landing the job here (he had previously already been offered). In my brief talk with Williams, he told me that the Gamecocks are recruiting him the hardest right now. While it's early, if I had to put in a prediction now, I would like the Gamecocks current position with Williams based on everything I've heard and the fact that he's such a big priority.
** It's early, but keep a close eye on Chapin (S.C.) class of 2024 quarterback Jayden Bradford as one to watch in that class. As Chris reported on his high school site, those inside the Chapin program - including head coach Justin Gentry - rave about him and his upside, as do those who have seen him throw in offseason work in recent days. I was one of those people who has watched Bradford recently.
It's so hard to project kids out this early and I don't want to create unrealistic expectations but I have watched Bradford throw twice lately and was beyond impressed with his arm talent and the way he carries himself. On film, he also shows the athletic ability to use his legs to extend plays and make plays on the ground. With two parents who are also athletes, including a father who played football at the college level, the genes and platform to continue to progress are both there. Already at 6-foot-1, 175-pounds, Bradford carries himself with an it factor and I'm pumped to watch him progress.
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