There is a new addition to the South Carolina football team, according to Matt Zenitz from AL.com on your Twitter account. Former Florida defensive coach Torrian Gray will take on a similar role for the Gamecocks next season under the head coach Shane Beamer. He is the ninth of 10 technical assistants allowed. Gamecocks have yet to hire an offensive line coach.
Gray has been a hot name in the rumor mill since Beamer took up the job with the Gamecocks. There was overlap between the two during their game days at Virginia Tech. Beamer played for the 1995-99 Hokies, while Gray was with the program as a 1992-96 player.
Gray, a native of Lakeland, Florida, later joined the Virginia Tech coaching staff, where he served as the defensive coach for the 2006-15 team. Beamer was an assistant in the 2011-15 program.
Since leaving Virginia Tech, Gray has had two stints in Florida. He spent the 2016 season with the Gators training defenders before leaving to train with the Washington Redskins for two years. He spent each of the last two seasons back with the Gators, working mainly with the cornerbacks.
In the 2019 season, Florida was one of two programs, with Florida Atlantic the other, having four players with at least three interceptions in the season. Both starting cornerbacks from that season won All-SEC honors with CJ Henderson gaining recognition from the first team and Kaiir Elam being nominated for the All-Freshman team. Henderson went on to be the ninth overall choice in the NFL Draft.
According to his bio page on the Florida website, Gray has developed a number of college-level NFL defensive backs, including ex-Gators Teez Tabor, Marcus Maye, Quincy Wilson and Duke Dawson. Before his time at UF, Gray developed Brandon Flowers, Kam Chancellor, Kyle Fuller and Kendall Fuller at Virginia Tech.
Gray will replace two former Gamecocks coaches who were fired after the 2020 season ended. Defensive Coordinator Travaris Robinson was the head coach in the secondary, but coordinator of special teams Kyle Krantz it also helped him. Both were relieved of their duties since Gamecocks had to leave the game due to problems with COVID-19.
Stay tuned on TheBigSpur.com to learn more about Torrian Gray and the South Carolina football program.