Historically, head football coach Steve Spurrier has been a top-notch recruiter, finishing with classes consistently ranked among the top in the country. However, after a few lesser-ranked recruiting classes, he and his assistants have started shifting their focus from high school seniors to college transfers.
Through one game this season, it is working out.
Consider these names: Marquavius Lewis, Dante Sawyer, Isaiah Johnson and, yes, Sean Kelly. All of these players plus a few more lesser names transferred from other colleges.
In South Carolina’s 2015 recruiting class, three of the Gamecocks’ top seven recruits were junior college transfers, and all on the defensive line.
Among these were Lewis and Sawyer, both of whom had substantial playing time against North Carolina. Lewis, a junior, was ranked as the top defensive junior college recruit in the country by Scout.com, while Sawyer was ranked as the second-best weakside defensive end in the nation.
While Sawyer was a one-time Gamecock commit before enrolling at East Mississippi Community College, Lewis was recruited much later in the process than the high school players that often receive offers as sophomores or juniors.
Both fill a desperate need for the Gamecocks, and both bring much-needed experience to a young defensive front. The Gamecock defensive line recorded four sacks, two less than all of last season. Though Lewis did not get to the quarterback and Sawyer was credited with just one of the four, the pressure provided by the two contributed to North Carolina quarterback Marquise Williams' poor performance.
With the exception of two freshman tight ends, no true freshman played more than a few snaps on offense or defense. Four transfers played substantial minutes, however.
Senior Isaiah Johnson graduated from the University of Kansas and was granted immediate eligibility per NCAA transfer rules. The safety recorded five tackles and a big hit that caused a key incompletion on a third quarter third down play.
Prior to Johnson’s transfer, the Gamecocks were unsure of the direction they would go at the free safety position. He became the clear favorite to start in the back the day he stepped on campus.
On special teams, two transfers kept the the field position battle in South Carolina’s favor. Punter Sean Kelly averaged 46.2 yards on five punts, putting two inside the 10-yard line. Kelly also had a touchdown-saving tackle at the end of the first half and a 17-yard run on a fourth down fake.
One of the unsung heroes of South Carolina’s special teams performance Thursday was Gardner-Webb running back transfer Rod Talley. On Sean Kelly’s first punt, North Carolina return man Ryan Switzer looked as if he would have an opening, but Talley swooped in to make the tackle for a one-yard loss.
On a team with a historically sub-par coverage team, the impact of these transfers in Thursday’s game cannot be overstated. Granted, it is hard to tell after a single game who will continue to make an impact and who will fall by the wayside, but so far, so good for a coaching staff that emphasized finding players from nontraditional places this offseason.
College coaches across the country are beginning to understand the talent and experience transfers can bring to their teams.
This offseason, former Notre Dame starting quarterback Everett Golson announced his intentions to transfer and a number of larger schools immediately jumped at the graduate transfer. Ultimately, Golson decided on Florida State over SEC schools such as Georgia and South Carolina due partially to the strict transfer rules imposed by the SEC.
Transfers are playing a larger role in the college game more than ever before, and Spurrier was smart to recognize this and begin recruiting from other colleges. In an ever-changing recruiting landscape, teams will look for a leg-up in any way possible. Transfer players can provide a boost, and the South Carolina transfers are what the team needs in terms of production from its newcomers.