South Carolina Gamecocks trainer Marcus Satterfield took a shot three years ago.
At the time, Satterfield was a technical assistant in Baylor, trying to recruit the best high school defender in the state of South Carolina. The Bears were among about 20 teams to be offered before Doty committed to the Gamecocks when he was a junior at Myrtle Beach (SC) High School.
“It was 2018, when he was still in high school,” said Satterfield. “I remember contacting him on Twitter and texting him on Twitter when I was in Baylor. To close the circle now at a team meeting, when I was talking to him, I was like, I don’t know if you remember, but I was actually texting you on Twitter.
“This was a cool little business. Between him and Colten (Gauthier) and Connor (Jordan), I think we have three guys there who can start the competition. “
It will be no different for the other positions.
“Everything we do offensively is going to revolve around the competition, so this is a room where the guys will be able to come in and compete, try to win their initial job,” said Satterfield. “I really like what I’ve heard so far about Luke. Your leadership skills, your competitive spirit, your ability to do a lot of different things.
“Very excited about Colten. I have to meet you (Sunday) at night. He’s been here for a week. This is all new to him too. I think they all give us a chance to do some things in the attack. Let’s start there. You have to have a starting point. This is what we have and we are very excited about it. “
Satterfield hesitated to start naming players in other positions, as he had only been in the building for a few hours. But he was certainly familiar with the general sentiment of the South Carolina people about the attack. And it starts with Kevin Harris, who ran for 1,138 yards and 15 touchdowns last season.
“Very excited about the backfield,” said Satterfield, “Our quarterbacks or running back, I think we can have a lot of productivity there, guys who played last year and guys who are coming out of injuries. I think we will have a chance to be dynamic. “
The line, added Satterfield, can also be strong.
“I really like our guys up front,” he said. “I think we have a chance to be first-rate, from the point of view of the offensive line. I think we have some resistance, some athletic ability. It has the potential to have some depth there. I am very excited about this unit. “
Satterfield then mentioned the tight ends.
“We have very good tight ends coming back that allow us – if you are going to play the ball on the field, you have to be able to use the middle of the field, which Shane would say the Oklahoma tight ends coaching for the past two years,” said Satterfield , “I think we have some guys with some physical characteristics and athletic ability to stretch the inside of the field. I am very excited about all of these groups, moving forward into the spring. “