South Carolina’s football camp is now less than two weeks away, scheduled to start on March 20.
When Gamecocks enter the field with helmets for the first time with Shane Beamer as the head coach and Marcus Satterfield as an offensive coordinator, there will be a lot of work needed on the offensive side of the ball. Each coach position in the attack is new to the program, as are three enrolled in high school in 2021 and three transfers.
Among the interviews, the highlights of the training sessions produced by the team or even possible open sessions for the media / fans, below I highlight the player who is returning and the rookie in the attack that I will be more connected to in the spring camp.
RETURNER: SO. QB LUKE DOTY
The young defender has been a big topic of conversation for the last three weeks of last season and will be in the spotlight throughout the spring.
With the arrival of the FCS transfer Jason Brown and 2021 high school signatory Colten Gauthier, Doty will have to prove that he is better suited to lead Gamecocks in the first year of an offense that he will try to transform Lincoln Riley‘sand Joe Bradythe philosophies of Beamer and Satterfield. A true double threat quarterback with dynamic speed, Doty showed that he can be a threat with his legs, a null feature of Gamecocks quarterbacks since the days of Connor Shaw.
The Myrtle Beach product will be fine tuned like a dowel and has three new large receivers in Ahmarean Brown, EJ Jenkins and Sam Reynolds to form working relationships. He also has 2,020 dropouts OrTre Smith and Randrecous Davis racing routes back, as well as 13 other returners at the receiver and at the tight end.
His position also requires leadership, a quality for which he has always been known. He has already been praised by Beamer for this.
“I’m excited about Luke,” said Beamer in February. “He has all the qualities, he is a good athlete, he knows how to run and I can already see what he is doing in the weight room. He’s a guy who has natural leadership qualities, he’s a very talented defender and a great young man. I’m excited to see what he can do and put these other guys in the competition and see where we are in that position. “
NEWLY: JR. WR AHMAREAN BROWN
With Shi Smith for the NFL, the Gamecocks attack lost its best explosive play in the passing game. Recovering that kind of skill through the transfer portal was a priority for Beamer and he managed to get Brown to Columbia after two seasons chasing defenders in a Georgia Tech uniform.
Creating explosive moves is how you win in college football and Brown has the experience to do that. At 5-9 and 165 pounds, Brown has a statue similar to former Gamecock game creators Ace Sanders (5-9, 175 pounds) and Damiere Byrd (5-8, 170 pounds).
Brown picked up 33 passes for 619 yards (18.8 average) and eight touchdowns in 20 games over two seasons at Georgia Tech. He led the Yellow Jackets in receptions (21), yards (396) and touchdown receptions (7) as a freshman in 2019.
Ahmarean Brown has recorded a solid freshman season for Georgia Tech! His 7 receiving TDs tied the freshman touchdown record for Megatron Georgia Tech. ????#TogetherWeSwarm #ACCFootball pic.twitter.com/d4Kaj5iYjx
– ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) June 25, 2020
A strong spring, filled with building chemistry with Doty and Co., will go a long way in making it a big part of the attack in September and beyond. Many believe that he went from Atlanta to Columbia with the intention of being the first holder in the slot. We will see how this unfolds from the end of March.
Stay tuned to TheBigSpur.com for more coverage of spring training before camp.