South Carolina Football: Gamecocks Land Commitment from Running Back Caleb McDowell
By Jacob Elsey
The South Carolina football team landed a commitment from three-star running back Caleb McDowell on Tuesday.
Georgia running back prospect Caleb McDowell committed to the University of South Carolina on Tuesday, becoming the seventh member of the Gamecocks’ 2021 recruiting class. He has been given a three-star rating by Rivals.
McDowell holds offers from Army, Cincinnati, Colorado, Indiana, Purdue, Syracuse, and a few others. He had previously been a member of North Carolina State’s 2021 class, but decided to retract his commitment last week and re-open his recruitment.
Interestingly enough, his new position coach in Columbia will be Des Kitchings, who had worked as the Wolfpack running backs coach over the last eight seasons. He was brought on staff by Will Muschamp in April, following the departure of Thomas Brown.
McDowell plays for Lee County High School in Leesburg, the same program that current Gamecock and freshman All-SEC performer Jammie Robinson attended. Last season, McDowell helped lead Lee County to an 11-2 record while contributing both on offense and defense. The 5’10” speedster was named First-Team All-State as a defensive back, and earned the title of Region 1-AAAAAA high school athlete of the year.
The Gamecocks may choose to use McDowell both in the return game and as a scat back or receiver out of the backfield. He doesn’t quite have the size of an every-down bruiser, but possesses the quickness and athleticism to make defenders miss in space. He can also reportedly squat around 600 pounds. That kind of lower body strength is going to make him tough to bring down in the open field.
McDowell is the first running back commit in the Gamecocks’ class of 2021, which is currently ranked 53rd in the nation.