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Wes Mitchell
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While the hope for the South Carolina defense has been that it would improve as the season progressed into a solid unit by season's end, if the first nine games of the season have taught us anything, it's that the Carolina defense is broken at this time. There have been momentary glances of positive play that showed the defense is capable of performing at a high level at times, but for the most part a unit that has allowed 34.1 points per game has just simply not been up to the standard that has been set for Carolina defenses really since Spurrier arrived in Columbia. With it obviously broken, the question is, how fast can it be fixed and what needs to happen?
It's pretty apparent, in my opinion, that there will be some level of coaching turnover this offseason. How much and at what positions is yet to be determined and I'm not sure even Spurrier knows what the exact plan is there yet, so we'll leave the discussion of which coaches stay or go to a different conversation. I would expect something to happen there following the Clemson game.
The positive thing for Carolina, is that as bad as the defense has looked to this point this season, I don't believe this is a long, drawn out turnaround job. The assets to form a far better defense than this one, next year, are either already on campus in the form of young players or coming in next season, if the Gamecocks can hang on to their 2015 class.
We'll start there. While other programs will surely hammer the prospects that Carolina has committed with the fact that the Gamecocks have had a down year, there are certain prospects in this class that it's imperative they hang on to as they'll have the chance to make an immediate impact next year. There's no position group with more prospects capable of doing so at a position that needs it more than on the defensive line.
Four-star junior college defensive end Marquavius Lewis is someone the Gamecocks absolutely have to hold onto as he's the classic pass-rusher that they severely lack at this time. Lewis will likely step right in and start next season and help upgrade that position. JUCO defensive end Dante Sawyer, who will have four to play three, and prep school defensive end Dexter Wideman are both key pieces as well. While both could eventually play defensive tackle, at least one, maybe both of them, will be needed to help upgrade the talent at defensive end next season. Personally, I believe if Sawyer is motivated and at a good weight, that he could start opposite of Lewis at some point next season.
The other key to that position will be to continue to develop young talent like David Johnson and Devin Washington, and to continue to put weight on Darius English. Even if those guys aren't starters next year, they can contribute in some way. I still like Johnson's upside at the position and English, at the very least, can be a situational pass-rusher. When Carolina signed him, it knew it was going to take a long time to get his body to a size that he can compete in the SEC. He's clearly not had a big year, but he can still contribute to the defense in the future, in my opinion. Gerald Dixon can be a steady veteran at the position next year too. Could the freshmen get in the mix too? It's always possible.
At defensive tackle, the Gamecocks will return a ton of bodies, but this is a position where the cream needs to rise to the top if it's going to be as good as it needs to be. I don't think depth will be a problem at all, but the most talented players need to grab this position and take it. Guys like Gerald Dixon Jr. and Phillip Dukes are older with more experience, but I look at young talents like Kelsey Griffin, Taylor Stallworth and Abu Lamin, and see more upside. Those three need to have a very productive offseason. The cherry on top of the 2015 recruiting class would be to flip four-star JUCO defensive tackle D.J. Jones from FSU. Jones has the ability to step in and start right away, and would instantly upgrade the position. It's all about upgrading positions if the Gamecocks are going to get better on defense.
At linebacker, it's going to be about getting the best players on the field. The most obvious change heading into next year, is to find a way to get Skai Moore and Jonathan Walton on the field at the same time. Does that mean sliding Moore out to SPUR or simply switching Walton back to MIKE. Right now, those appear to be the Gamecocks' two best traditional linebackers. There are a lot of ways you could go with it, though. If you slide Moore out to SPUR, then you probably move Jordan Diggs inside to WLB. That may suit him better anyway. Moore and Larenz Bryant, who I think has to be more involved in some way next year too, could man the SPUR, with Walton and Diggs at WLB and potentially Bryson Allen-Williams at middle linebacker. He's a sharp kid with the instincts and size to play the position.
Even if you leave Moore at WLB, and slide Walton to the middle, you would have Diggs and Bryant at SPUR and Allen-Williams as a backup at one of the interior linebacker spots, and several guys with experience like Kaiwan Lewis, T.J. Holloman and Marcquis Roberts fighting it out for playing time. South Carolina has some young talent at linebacker, but will need to develop those guys and get the best combination of size and athleticism on the field for that position group to be what it needs to be. Adding four-star linebacker Sherrod Pittman to the mix will also be a potential upgrade somewhere in the future. Kudos to Shaq Wilson who has an excellent relationship with Pittman.
The future is very bright in the Gamecocks' secondary. This unit has gradually improved this season, and should take a big jump next season. Secondary coach Grady Brown has a vision for this group, and while the secondary should be better next season, the belief inside the program is that they can eventually be elite in the following seasons.
The first key for the future of this position is to hang on to four-star cornerback commitment Mark Fields. Fields is ranked as the No. 10 cornerback in the country by Rivals, but the Gamecocks didn't have a higher player on their board at the position than Fields, who will contribute right away as a true freshman. Fields is likely a top draft pick as a cornerback down the road, but for the purpose of this breakdown on how the defense can be fixed next season, I would look at Fields as a safety and potentially a nickelback early in his career.
The other key to the secondary becoming what it can be will be to develop the young, talented freshmen like Chris Lammons, Al Harris Jr., Wesley Green and D.J. Smith.
Smith will surely be in the mix as a potential starter at safety next year. A three-man rotation of senior T.J. Gurley, Smith and Fields gives the Gamecocks a nice mix of hitters and athleticism. Can Chris Moody and/or Chaz Elder step up and stay in the mix?
At cornerback, my way-too-early prediction would be that Lammons and Harris are the starters with Green and Rico McWilliams also in the rotation. Lammons was the most raw of the group coming in, but I believe he's got a chance to be the best of the bunch. Fields could also be in the mix if Carolina feels good about safety. Either way, he's going to be on the field.
As bad as the Gamecocks have looked defensively this season -- and it's been very, very bad at times -- this doesn't appear to be a two- or three-year turnaround job to me. The talent for a quick fix is either already on campus or on the way in this recruiting class, if the coaches can find the right mix to put on the field, and the underclassmen can have the offseason they need.
This post was edited on 11/11 11:26 AM by Brian Shoemaker
It's pretty apparent, in my opinion, that there will be some level of coaching turnover this offseason. How much and at what positions is yet to be determined and I'm not sure even Spurrier knows what the exact plan is there yet, so we'll leave the discussion of which coaches stay or go to a different conversation. I would expect something to happen there following the Clemson game.
The positive thing for Carolina, is that as bad as the defense has looked to this point this season, I don't believe this is a long, drawn out turnaround job. The assets to form a far better defense than this one, next year, are either already on campus in the form of young players or coming in next season, if the Gamecocks can hang on to their 2015 class.
We'll start there. While other programs will surely hammer the prospects that Carolina has committed with the fact that the Gamecocks have had a down year, there are certain prospects in this class that it's imperative they hang on to as they'll have the chance to make an immediate impact next year. There's no position group with more prospects capable of doing so at a position that needs it more than on the defensive line.
Four-star junior college defensive end Marquavius Lewis is someone the Gamecocks absolutely have to hold onto as he's the classic pass-rusher that they severely lack at this time. Lewis will likely step right in and start next season and help upgrade that position. JUCO defensive end Dante Sawyer, who will have four to play three, and prep school defensive end Dexter Wideman are both key pieces as well. While both could eventually play defensive tackle, at least one, maybe both of them, will be needed to help upgrade the talent at defensive end next season. Personally, I believe if Sawyer is motivated and at a good weight, that he could start opposite of Lewis at some point next season.
The other key to that position will be to continue to develop young talent like David Johnson and Devin Washington, and to continue to put weight on Darius English. Even if those guys aren't starters next year, they can contribute in some way. I still like Johnson's upside at the position and English, at the very least, can be a situational pass-rusher. When Carolina signed him, it knew it was going to take a long time to get his body to a size that he can compete in the SEC. He's clearly not had a big year, but he can still contribute to the defense in the future, in my opinion. Gerald Dixon can be a steady veteran at the position next year too. Could the freshmen get in the mix too? It's always possible.
At defensive tackle, the Gamecocks will return a ton of bodies, but this is a position where the cream needs to rise to the top if it's going to be as good as it needs to be. I don't think depth will be a problem at all, but the most talented players need to grab this position and take it. Guys like Gerald Dixon Jr. and Phillip Dukes are older with more experience, but I look at young talents like Kelsey Griffin, Taylor Stallworth and Abu Lamin, and see more upside. Those three need to have a very productive offseason. The cherry on top of the 2015 recruiting class would be to flip four-star JUCO defensive tackle D.J. Jones from FSU. Jones has the ability to step in and start right away, and would instantly upgrade the position. It's all about upgrading positions if the Gamecocks are going to get better on defense.
At linebacker, it's going to be about getting the best players on the field. The most obvious change heading into next year, is to find a way to get Skai Moore and Jonathan Walton on the field at the same time. Does that mean sliding Moore out to SPUR or simply switching Walton back to MIKE. Right now, those appear to be the Gamecocks' two best traditional linebackers. There are a lot of ways you could go with it, though. If you slide Moore out to SPUR, then you probably move Jordan Diggs inside to WLB. That may suit him better anyway. Moore and Larenz Bryant, who I think has to be more involved in some way next year too, could man the SPUR, with Walton and Diggs at WLB and potentially Bryson Allen-Williams at middle linebacker. He's a sharp kid with the instincts and size to play the position.
Even if you leave Moore at WLB, and slide Walton to the middle, you would have Diggs and Bryant at SPUR and Allen-Williams as a backup at one of the interior linebacker spots, and several guys with experience like Kaiwan Lewis, T.J. Holloman and Marcquis Roberts fighting it out for playing time. South Carolina has some young talent at linebacker, but will need to develop those guys and get the best combination of size and athleticism on the field for that position group to be what it needs to be. Adding four-star linebacker Sherrod Pittman to the mix will also be a potential upgrade somewhere in the future. Kudos to Shaq Wilson who has an excellent relationship with Pittman.
The future is very bright in the Gamecocks' secondary. This unit has gradually improved this season, and should take a big jump next season. Secondary coach Grady Brown has a vision for this group, and while the secondary should be better next season, the belief inside the program is that they can eventually be elite in the following seasons.
The first key for the future of this position is to hang on to four-star cornerback commitment Mark Fields. Fields is ranked as the No. 10 cornerback in the country by Rivals, but the Gamecocks didn't have a higher player on their board at the position than Fields, who will contribute right away as a true freshman. Fields is likely a top draft pick as a cornerback down the road, but for the purpose of this breakdown on how the defense can be fixed next season, I would look at Fields as a safety and potentially a nickelback early in his career.
The other key to the secondary becoming what it can be will be to develop the young, talented freshmen like Chris Lammons, Al Harris Jr., Wesley Green and D.J. Smith.
Smith will surely be in the mix as a potential starter at safety next year. A three-man rotation of senior T.J. Gurley, Smith and Fields gives the Gamecocks a nice mix of hitters and athleticism. Can Chris Moody and/or Chaz Elder step up and stay in the mix?
At cornerback, my way-too-early prediction would be that Lammons and Harris are the starters with Green and Rico McWilliams also in the rotation. Lammons was the most raw of the group coming in, but I believe he's got a chance to be the best of the bunch. Fields could also be in the mix if Carolina feels good about safety. Either way, he's going to be on the field.
As bad as the Gamecocks have looked defensively this season -- and it's been very, very bad at times -- this doesn't appear to be a two- or three-year turnaround job to me. The talent for a quick fix is either already on campus or on the way in this recruiting class, if the coaches can find the right mix to put on the field, and the underclassmen can have the offseason they need.
This post was edited on 11/11 11:26 AM by Brian Shoemaker
