Kelby Collins is close to getting his first real taste of South Carolina football, and the veteran defensive tackle says the biggest change he’s noticed in camp starts with himself.
Less than two weeks from stepping onto the field in a Gamecocks uniform, Collins says preseason has already shown him how far he’s come. The 6-foot-4, 285-pound senior arrives with SEC experience after suiting up for Florida and Alabama, bringing a résumé that includes 32 games played, 41 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Last season with the Crimson Tide, he finished with 12 stops, three for loss and two sacks.
Now with camp winding down and South Carolina in mock game week, Collins says the progress has been obvious.
"I feel I've grown tremendously," Collins said in a press conference on Tuesday. "Obviously, I'm a vet.
This my fourth year, so I've had some good position coaches over the years. Just taking what they've taught me, and then taking what coach T-Rob has taught me and his mentality.
I feel like I've grown a lot, and then I have a great room behind me helping me in areas that I might slack off sometimes. But I've taken taking a huge step, in my opinion."
He also pointed to the defense’s communication as one of the clearest signs of improvement. For Collins, that showed up most in the second scrimmage, where the unit looked more connected and more decisive.
"Just how well we played together. Just seeing guys fly around and make plays," Collins said.
"Just seeing how our communication has grown from the spring until now. Even from the first scrimmage until now, we've taken big steps in our communication.
I'd say those are two most encouraging things. Just our communication has been great, and just guys making plays all over the field."
That buy-in, Collins said, has spread through the entire group. He believes the defense is steadily absorbing what the coaches want and getting closer to the standard they’re chasing.
"Everybody's buying into coach White's defense. Everybody's buying into what their position coaches are saying.
Everybody's buying into each other," Collins said. "So, with that, we just keep going every day.
I always tell them before we go out, if everybody gets one percent better, then the unit got better. Everybody's getting one percent better every day.
We're getting closer to where we want to be."
Collins also addressed the edge rotation while Dylan Stewart has been out, saying the group has handled the work with confidence.
"Obviously, Dylan is a big piece of our defense. We see him out there getting better every day.
As far as our rotation, the guys who have been out there in camp, I feel pretty confident in them. We have just been working to get closer so we can have that confidence in each other."
And when asked about Julian Walker, Collins had plenty of praise for the freshman, calling him a long, physical player who’s already making an impression.
"As a freshman, he's done some great things. He has a lot of guys to learn off of in the EDGE room, and I think that he's taking their coaching, coach Deion's coaching, and applying it to the field. He's a long, physical player that's going to help us this year."
Collins also singled out the mind behind the defense, saying the scheme has stood out to him throughout camp.
"I'd say he's one of the smartest minds in the game. Just the scheme that he comes up with, even just going against our offense is like, man, he knew this play was coming.
Sometimes it'd be mind blowing like, yeah, we're going do this right here. It's going be this and it's that.
I haven't really seen that a lot through my years of football."
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Nyck Harbor has spent the early part of camp sounding like a player who has settled in, both with his role and with the direction of South Carolinas offense. The wide receiver had plenty of good things to say about his current and former coaches, including Mike Furrey and new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, while also making it clear that the scheme has felt far more comfortable to him than anything he has worked in over the last four years.
For a player with NFL aspirations, that kind of confidence matters, but Harbor also seems intent on keeping the focus where it belongs right now. He talked a bit about lighter things, like his hat collection and the family support around him, yet the bigger message was simple enough: he likes where he is, he likes how the offense feels, and he is turning his attention to the season ahead with the Gamecocks. [Read more 🡒]
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DaeQuan Wright Had Other Serious Options Before LSU Drama
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Wright had already built a solid rsum at both stops before his stint with the Cleveland Browns, giving him a profile that fit for teams looking for a proven pass-catching option. South Carolinas inclusion in that mix adds another layer to a return attempt that has since run into an SEC eligibility ruling, leaving his next move uncertain even as it became clear he had multiple serious options on the table. [Read more 🡒]