The Green Bay Packers drafted former South Carolina Gamecocks cornerback Brandon Cisse in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Cisse was the highest-drafted player for South Carolina this year, joining fifth-round picks Nick Barrett and safety Jalon Kilgore.
One person who has high hopes for Cisse in Green Bay is his former defensive backs coach, Torrian Gray. Gray spoke with Bill Huber of Packers on SI in a recent interview, and revealed why he thinks Cisse will do so well in Green Bay at the next level.
“They drafted a guy who seems like, if he told me what his hobby was, as far as I know, it seems like it would be football,” Gray, who is South Carolina's co-defensive coordinator and DBs coach, told the outlet.
Cisse spent just one season with the Gamecocks last season, accounting for 27 total tackles with five passes defended, along with a forced fumble and interception. Gray added that Cisse being a football junkie will help him as he starts his NFL career.
“He’s always looking on YouTube at clips of guys making plays or doing certain techniques and getting interceptions, because he sends a lot of them," Gray said. "I can get texts at 10 o’clock, 11 o’clock at night and, ‘Hey, this is a guy, Kendall Fuller, making an interception from a three-step play,’ or, ‘This is what you were talking about out of this particular technique.’ He’s just a real ball junkie.”
Packers national scout Mike Owen added at Green Bay's post-draft press conference that he had the same impression of Cisse.
"Spent a lot of time with him," Owen said of Cisse via The Big Spur. When you go there [South Carolina], they spoke highly of him. Work ethic in the weight room, at practice. Smart kid, always watching a ton of football. Anytime I went there, he's in the office watching NFL, college or high school. That's what I love about the kid. Really loves football at the end of the day."
Packers national scout Mike Owen said he first met Brandon Cisse at a practice in September at South Carolina and from there, they built a "great relationship"
— Pat Timlin (@pat_timlin) April 25, 2026
"When he's a good player, but you're also able to talk ball, makes you even more comfortable with the guy." pic.twitter.com/7u9pGikBuR
Must-see moment: Watch Brandon Cisse get life-changing draft call from Packers
Gray also said that Cisse, a native of Sumer, S.C., wanted to play for the Gamecocks coming out of high school, but he didn't have the size South Carolina was looking for. As a high school recruit, Cisse was listed as 6-foot-0, 170 pounds per 247Sports. On his South Carolina bio page, his weight is listed as 190 pounds.
“When he came in the portal and we watched him on NC State and then he came to the building, I was like, ‘Oh, man, he looks a lot better,’" Gray told On SI. "Because he wanted to come to South Carolina out of high school but wasn’t quite big enough. And then he went to NC State and really worked his tail off in the weight room.
“So, when I seen him once he got in the portal, I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ You know, he really changed his body," Gray continued. So, the kid’s just got a great work ethic about himself.”
In Green Bay, Cisse gets to learn from a talented defensive backs room that features starting cornerbacks Carrington Valentine and Keisan Nixon from last season, as well as talented safety Xavier McKinney. The defense also includes star EDGE rusher Micah Parsons.
"He’s got a great strain, effort about him, a great competitiveness about him," Gray said of his former player. And if he can continue to bring that, he’ll have consistent success.”
Cisse will start rookie minicamp with the Packers sometime early next month.
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