One way to start a heated discussion on Twitter is to claim that one school or another is a defensive university, or “DBU”. And the new coach of South Carolina defenders Torrian Gray apparently wants all the smoke.
Gray took to Twitter on Tuesday with a chart stating that South Carolina was “the new DBU”. And this is sure to attract a lot of attention from the usual “DBU” arguers in schools like Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and Texas.
Here’s a look:
?? #Welcome home pic.twitter.com/zcmE9xlWJH
– Torrian Gray (@ togray14) February 23, 2021
To be fair, Gray – who joined Shane Beamer’s team this off-season after two years in Florida – has a good idea of what constitutes a great defensive defense. First, he himself was chosen three times at the All-Big East at Virginia Tech and then for more than three years at the Minnesota Vikings before retiring because of a knee injury.
And he spent two different seasons in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and the Washington Football Team, along with a long season as a defensive coach at Virginia Tech. The Hokies were among the best producers of defensive talent on his back when he was on campus, including a high school that included Brandon Flowers, Macho Harris and Kam Chancellor All at once.
Even so, he will have to recruit at an extremely high level, and for a considerable amount of time, to claim the DBU brand. But if Gray can find a way to get South Carolina’s high school back to the old Virginia Tech level, he will at least have an argument. Before that, however, Gray’s statement was probably met with a series of rolled eyes.