South Carolina Football Era Debate: Best Linebackers

In the history of South Carolina football, every good team was tough and had a defense that changed games for them. Some of these defenses forced turnovers, some stuffed the run, and others had secondaries that operated no-fly zones on the back end. But which era had the best men captaining the middle of their defenses?

First, let’s define the eras.

The Rex Enright Era: Anything before 1956

While Coach Enright did not literally coach all of these seasons, he was by far the longest-tenured coach during this time period, having coached twice as many games as any other coach who came before him. This is, by far, the longest of the eras but also has the fewest amount of games per season and the lowest overall amount of talent to choose from.

The ACC Era: 1956-1974

The Gamecocks joined the ACC in 1953 and left in 1971. In an effort to not split coaching tenures between two eras, 1953-1955 will be included in the Rex Enright Era, and 1971-1974 will be included in the ACC Era. 1956 was the school’s first season post-Rex Enright, and 1974 was Coach Paul Dietzel’s final year in Columbia. South Carolina did not win a ton during this era but did capture its only conference championship, claiming the ACC crown in 1969.

The Independent Era: 1975-1988

Jim Carlen, Richard Bell, and Joe Morrison led the Gamecocks through life as an Independent program. Schedules were difficult, but South Carolina managed to win at a decent clip through these years. The Gamecocks actually became Independent in 1971, but Paul Dietzel’s final years are included in the ACC Era. The program would not officially join a conference again until 1992, but after Joe Morrison passed away and Sparky Woods became coach in 1989, the move to a conference (ultimately, the SEC) was inevitable.

The Early SEC Era: 1989-2004

The years leading up to South Carolina football’s move into the best conference in college football and its first 13 years in the conference were up and down. Sparky Woods and Brad Scott struggled but had brief periods of success including the team’s first-ever bowl victory in a win over West Virginia in the Car Quest Bowl. The Lou Holtz tenure in Columbia started horribly (0-11), soared to heights Gamecock fans hadn’t seen in almost 20 years (17-7 from 2000-2001), then fizzled (three straight non-bowl seasons and a brawl that put a black eye on one of football’s best rivalries).

The Steve Spurrier Era: 2005-2015

The Steve Spurrier Era in Columbia was the brightest time in South Carolina football history. Sure, individual seasons like 1969, 1984, 1987, 2000, and 2001 happened during earlier time periods, but no time in Carolina history produced more sustained success for the garnet and black. Even with a poor ending in 2015 that saw Shawn Elliott finish the season after the Head Ball Coach resigned, Spurrier’s overall success at Carolina is unrivaled, so giving him his own era just makes sense.

The Modern Era: 2016-Present

In an era that is still building, the Gamecocks have been on a wild ride. Will Muschamp came in and fixed some of the structural issues in the program from the Spurrier era and seemed to be on the road to glory after a good second season. However, he showed he was incapable of getting things done on the field and was replaced by former Spurrier assistant Shane Beamer. Beamer and his staff have since dug the program out of a bad culture that was present at the end of the previous regime, and the South Carolina football program is on the rise once again.

Best Linebacker Era of South Carolina Football

Each era of Gamecock football will have its positional group analyzed, and the top-three eras will be given a “starting lineup” that will be ranked against each other. Talent and positional fit will be the biggest factors, and depth will serve as a tie-breaker if the groups are just too close to point out any real distinction. For the linebacker position, only traditional linebackers (Mikes, Wills, Sams) will be included. Outside linebackers who operated as EDGE players and spur linebackers/nickels are not included with the linebackers.

The Rex Enright Era: With this era being so long ago, only the best of the best players have accurate records. One name sticks out at linebacker: Bill Wohrman. Funnily enough, as good as he was at linebacker, he was even better on the other side of the ball where he was a Jacobs Blocking Trophy award winner twice as a fullback.

The ACC Era: Linebackers became “captains of the defense” during this era of college football. Tom Addison was the best of this group as he went on to a very successful NFL career after graduating from South Carolina. Garry Mott and Dana Carpenter were team captains who played together and made seemingly every tackle for some not-so-great Gamecock defenses. Tim Bice was a sure tackler who made an All-ACC team and an All-American squad.

The Independent Era: The Gamecocks had some tackling savants during the Independent Era in Mike Durrah, JD Fuller, James Seawright, Kenneth Robinson, and Paul Vogel. Fuller is the owner of the all-time tackles record, Durrah holds the single-season record, and Seawright has the most tackles in a single game. Not to be outdone, Robinson and Vogel appear on every linebacker leaderboard, as well.

The Early SEC Era: This era at linebacker was marked by its heavy hitters. Shannon “Body Bag” Wadley is potentially the best of the bunch, but Patrick Hinton and Rod Wilson were very good players in their own right. Both Hinton and Wilson played all over during their careers, and Hinton made an all-conference team. Darren Hambrick only played for one season but was very good, making the All-SEC team, and Kenny Harney was a warrior on Charlie Strong’s defenses.

The Steve Spurrier Era: Three true linebackers stick out in the Steve Spurrier era: Skai Moore, Jasper Brinkley, and Shaq Wilson. Skai Moore, a two-time All-SEC linebacker, is one of the most complete linebackers to ever play at Carolina, owning a share of the career interceptions record for the school and being the leading tackler in four different seasons. Brinkley was also an All-SEC linebacker as one of the best run-stoppers in recent SEC history. Wilson was a tremendous leader who began his career as a rangy player but reinvented himself as a run stuffer after injury.

The Modern Era: TJ Brunson, Ernest Jones, and Bryson Allen-Williams were the best ‘backers of the Modern Era. Brunson sits just outside the top-10 in career tackles, and Allen-Williams was a talented player who was misused by two different coaching staffs, stunting his growth. Jones was the most talented of the group and was drafted in the 3rd round of the NFL draft, won a Super Bowl, and still starts in the League.

The Verdict

With some extremely gifted young linebackers on the current roster, the Modern Era might crack this top-three soon, but the best linebacker units were from the ACC Era, the Steve Spurrier Era, and the Independent Era.

3rd Place: The ACC Era

Led by the talented Tom Addison, this linebacker group was stout. Garry Mott was a tackling machine, and All-American selection Tim Bice could play sideline to sideline. During this era of football, three linebackers would be used, so Addison and Bice would play on the outside, and Mott would captain the middle.

2nd Place: The Steve Spurrier Era

A group as equally-talented as the ACC Era, the Steve Spurrier Era of linebackers get the nod because of fit. Skai Moore and Jasper Brinkley fit perfectly in the 4-2-5 system employed by the Gamecocks during this era. Brinkley would stuff everything inside, and Moore would use his versatility to clean up everything else. The pass defense would benefit from this group as Moore is the best coverage linebacker in Gamecock history, and Brinkley had a clutch interception to seal a win against Georgia.

1st Place: The Independent Era

The Independent Era boasts the greatest collection of players at linebacker, and it isn’t particularly close. Four of the top-10 all-time tacklers in program history played linebacker during this era. Mike Durrah was probably the most intimidating of the bunch, but JD Fuller has more tackles than anyone in garnet and black and James Seawright made an All-American team. A “starting” group of those three existed in 1982, but all three players were rarely healthy and playing all at the same time. The trio in their primes would have been unstoppable.