Miles to make decision on whether to return to USC after bowl game
After meeting with reporters for 25 minutes, South Carolina tailback Kenny Miles was greeted by a family with their two young daughters.
“Through my career at South Carolina, I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs and stuff like that, but I think it’s a blessing that I am who I am now,” Miles said. “I’m excited to get ready for the bowl game.”
Named the starter for the Capital One Bowl against Nebraska on Jan. 2, Miles finds himself in control for one of the few times at USC, having a decision to make that’s all his.
Chosing to participate in Senior Day, though he has one year of eligibility remaining, Miles is considering a transfer to another program. Spurrier said that if Miles wanted to return to USC, then there would be a scholarship spot waiting for him. He then took it a step further and named Miles the starter over tailback Brandon Wilds after Miles had the best outing in South Carolina’s last game against Clemson.
Holding all of the cards, Miles is waiting until after the bowl game to make his decision on whether he’ll be a Gamecock next year or finish his career elsewhere. He wants to put the team first, but that’s nothing new from Miles.
“Once this game is over, I’ll sit down with my family and decide what’s best for us,” Miles said. “I love South Carolina to death and I talked to coach Spurrier and he already said that if I want to come back, I can, so I’m really excited to hear that. I’m glad and once this game’s over, I can actually sit down with my family and decide what we’re going to do.”
After being redshirted his freshman year, Miles led the team in 2009 with 117 carries for 626 yards. He saved his best effort for Clemson that year, just as he did this year, rushing for 114 yards on 17 carriers.
Miles’ career took a dip his redshirt sophomore season with the arrival of tailback Marcus Lattimore, who quickly ascended to a starting role. Miles faithfully stepped in whenever he was needed, starting against Vanderbilt in place of an injured Lattimore and finishing with 152 yards on 40 carries. In the Chick-fil-A bowl, Miles again stepped in when Lattimore went down, tallying 10 carries for 70 yards in the loss.
Coming out of the spring this season, Miles was again the No. 2 back behind Lattimore. When Lattimore went down with a season-ending knee injury against Mississippi State, it should have been Miles’ opportunity to step in just as he had in the past, but a wrist injury kept him out of the lineup, opening the door for Wilds.
“Marcus (Lattimore) is a great player and you can’t replace a guy like that,” Miles said. “I think it shows that our team has been through a lot and we have the depth to go to the next players to be able to pick it up and to keep pace to keep it going. We have the offensive mindset to keep it going, and I think overall, we’ve been able to overcome a lot this year.”
Even through the injury, Miles showed the mindset of wanting to keep it going, not thinking about reclaiming his role, but focusing on returning to a capacity where he could help his team be successful.
“I never really thought about that,” Miles said. “The whole time I just thought, ‘Make sure you get healthy and get back, and being prepared and ready, so that you don’t have to get ready.’”
Miles was ready against Clemson. Spurrier thought that Miles had a better week of practice than Wilds and called his number throughout the game, making way for Miles to have 71 yards on 21 carries.
Even in preparation for Nebraska, things haven’t been easy for Miles. Before the start of pre-bowl practices, running backs Jay Graham left to take the same position at Tennessee, his alma mater. Miles and the other running backs have been coached by a combination of Spurrier, offensive line coach Shawn Elliott, and graduate assistant Tommy Galt after the departure of Graham.
With the injury to Terrence Campbell and the return of Kyle Nunn, there’s also been reshuffling along the offensive line, though Miles said that Elliott has done a good job throughout the season of putting all of the members of his unit into different roles so to prepare for changes and injuries.
Wearing a “beast-mode” t-shirt with a smile on his face, Miles reiterated that he was excited to be starting the bowl game, though again, it wasn’t for himself.
“It’s been long, but at the same time, it’s been a blessing and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else,” Miles said of his journey at USC. “I’m excited to play and I can’t wait to do whatever I can to help my team win.”