South Carolina Football Balance Sheet: Team in Black With Staff Changes, Key Returnees
By Jacob Elsey
The special teams unit loses one of the nation’s best punters but returns Parker White, who’s made 31 of his last 38 field goals.
SPECIAL TEAMS – Red
K
Parker White returns for his senior season and should be in line to be the starter. He’s been the Gamecocks’ field goal kicker for three years now, and has connected on more than 81% of his attempts over the last two seasons.
Placekicker Will Tommie has graduated, and the Gamecocks lost his backup, Alexander Woznick, to transfer, meaning they’ll need to find someone to take over kickoff duties. That could put White on double duty when all is said and done.
South Carolina also adds Mitch Jeter in the class of ’20 to help with depth and kickoff duties.
Final assessment: Losing Tommie and Woznick shouldn’t hurt too much, as White has experience handling kickoffs. And he should be able to pick up where he’s left off the last two years as field goal kicker (31-38 on FGs, 70-71 on XPs). – BETTER
P
The Gamecocks take a hit here, losing one of the best punters in the country from a season ago. Joseph Charlton averaged 47.7 yards per punt last year, which was second nationally behind only Kentucky’s Max Duffy.
It looks like senior Christian Kinsley will take over for Charlton, after joining the team last season. Before transferring from Kennesaw State, Kinsley was the Owls’ starting punter for two years. There, he averaged over 40 yards per punt, with a long of 61 yards.
Redshirt freshman transfer Will Ross will be in line for an opportunity at punter, too. He’s yet to see game action. South Carolina also brings in Kai Kroeger with the ’20 recruiting class. He ranked as the nation’s top punter according to Kohl’s Kicking.
Final assessment: Losing Charlton hurts, and it’s unlikely that the newcomers will match his production. Hopefully the Gamecocks can find an adequate replacement to help flip field position. – WORSE
RET
Shi Smith and Xavier Legette are both back after handling kick return duties last year. Smith averaged 22.9 yards per return with a long of 60, while Legette averaged 28.3 yards per return. They should be the leading candidates to field the first kickoff when the Gamecocks hit the field in September.
Punt return duties were handled in most part by the departed Bryan Edwards. Last season, he returned seven punts for an average of 17.9 yards per return. There will be a host of players vying to be his replacement. Josh Vann and Xavier Legette both fielded punts last year, and may have the inside track to the starting job.
Final assessment: Kickoffs shouldn’t change much, but the Gamecocks will need to replace Edwards’ production on the punt team. – WORSE
COACHING
The Gamecocks have familiar face taking over at special teams coach. Kyle Krantz, who’s served as a special teams assistant the last couple of years, has been promoted to coordinator. Former coordinator Coleman Hutzler has moved on to the University of Texas.
Under Hutzler, South Carolina saw the special teams unit finish in the top 20 nationally in two categories last season. Those were net punting and punt return average. Joseph Charlton set a school record by averaging 47.7 yards per punt, breaking the mark that he set the year prior. Hutzler was also coordinator while Deebo Samuel was returning kicks. Samuel tied an SEC record by returning four kicks for touchdowns.
Krantz only has two years of on-field experience in Columbia. He’s worked in a variety of roles, mostly on the defensive side of the ball, at Florida, Kentucky, Northern Colorado, North Carolina, and Auburn. He’s worked with coach Muschamp since 2013, dating back to his years in Gainesville.
Final assessment: It will certainly be tough to replace Hutzler. Muschamp obviously thinks highly of Krantz, as he’s hired him at three different stops, but it will be interesting to see how he performs in his first year as coordinator. – WORSE