South Carolina football has unanswered questions before spring training.
The South Carolina football program began spring training yesterday, and a new coaching staff will try to identify the creators on either side of the ball when they first see their team on the field. One of these areas will be defense, where defensive coordinator Clayton White inherits a group that is quite empty on a few different levels.
Gamecocks have seen more than half a dozen beginners in the 2020 squad move to the NFL or transfer from the program. Of these collaborators, five were members of the secondary school, leaving the defensive back room with no experience.
There are also issues at the linebacker level, where the team’s top defender for the past two seasons has been out of the professional ranks after a productive three-year career.
To make up for the mass exodus, Gamecocks hit the transfer portal hard, landing five defensive players who started their careers in Division I at a previous university. Shane Beamer and Co. also hired three JUCO defenders to help reinforce a unit that fought until the end of last season.
Let’s take a look at what we know and what we don’t know about South Carolina’s defense before 2021.
YOU KNOW
The defensive line will be a strong point
Gamecocks are deep and talented over the top four, bringing back JJ Enagbare, Zacch Pickens, Aaron Sterling, Jabari Ellis and Rick Sandidge. They will also have Jordan Burch, Alex Huntley, Devontae Davis and Tonka Hemingway back, while adding Jordan Strachan and Jakeem Green to the transfer portal.
Enagbare was the SEC’s second-largest sack getter in 2020, while Strachan led the country in the category, knocking down opponent defenders 10.5 times. Burch and Pickens are ex-candidates for five stars, while Sterling, Ellis, Sandidge and Hemingway have made significant contributions in recent seasons.
Special teams are one of the best in the league
We will tie up special teams in defense, and it must be an area where Gamecocks excel. Parker White returns for a fifth season and must be an impact player kicking goals and kicking kickoffs.
Punter Kai Kroeger is back for his second season after averaging 43.3 yards per punt in 2020. The southpaw hit 39 punts last season with a long 53. He can be a weapon to change the field position and help a defense that may face some bumps problem this year.
New faces will be the main contributors
South Carolina has achieved a handful of transfers and prospects for JUCO during the off-season, and they are expected to take on contributing roles on the first day. In the defensive backfield, in particular, the Gamecocks will feature David Spaulding, transferred from Georgia Southern, and two corners from Georgia Military College to fill in for a secondary who lost five holders on the 2020 list.
In the linebacker, team captain Ernest Jones is gone, meaning newcomers Debo Williams and Bam Scott will join the rotation immediately. Jordan Strachan is another transfer that is expected to make a big impact from a pass rush point of view, after leading the country in bags last year.