Everything Clayton White said in his Wednesday press conference

South Carolina defensive coordinator Clayton White spoke to the media on Wednesday. Here’s everything he had to say.

Opening statement

“Hope you guys are doing great. Welcome back to the 2025 season. Just want to let you guys know I’m super excited to be leading the defense here at South Carolina again. Our goals are still the same. Obviously want to go farther than what we went last year as a football team. Truly believe that this team is built with some young guys and a lot of experience, and we’re excited to get it going.”

With less than two weeks to go until the first game, would you say your defense is set, in terms of the guys that are going to start and the guys that will probably be second string?

“Yes, we are. We always keep the competition open up to the last minute. We have some positions where we’re still trying to battle some things out, but for the most part, we feel really good about where guys are. Guys come back off little knick-knacks, injuries, here and there, but I think we’re all set and excited.”

What’s the most impressive thing you’ve seen from Fred Johnson as he’s stepped into a larger role?

“Nothing major. I mean, Fred’s one of those guys who’s very consistent in regards to how he carries himself every single day. I think the most important thing is that he’s getting more vocal. He’s having a little bit more fun. I heard him today, yelling and joking with Coach (Shane) Beamer during a period today. That’s the first time I’ve heard that. So those are things that I’m really impressed with.

“He’s starting to come out of his shell. We do believe that he has a talent to go a long way in this game. Just want to keep him home and make sure he’s learning every single day. I think he’s done a great job in the linebacker meetings, the defensive meetings, just growing every single day. And I think the guys around him understand what he can bring, and they’re always willing to help.”

With a lot of guys kind of growing into new roles on that interior defensive line, who’s kind of stood out to you so far as somebody who you expect to fill in some of those spots?

“Honestly, all of them because we lost everybody. So that’s not a surprise. But I think guys like Monkell Goodwine has really stepped up his game and just day to day and consistency. The same thing with a Gabe Brownlow-Dindy. I love his power and strength. He’s one of our best guys in the weight room. He’s starting to bring that stuff to the field. Sometimes, guys who have that makeup, like him, can’t bring it to the field. I think he’s doing a great job of just taking the coaching from Coach (Travian) Robertson, first and foremost, Coach (Jordan) Dove, of just bringing it to the field. You also have the old school guy, Nick Barrett, doing a great job making plays and just being more of a playmaker than a plug.”

Coming off a season where you ranked top 10 nationally in sacks, how do you carry that into 2025, especially with the injuries at the EDGE position?

“Definitely unfortunate things have happened in the edge room, where there’s been some very freak injuries, nothing combative. It was just a lot of stuff that happened. But as far as trying to make sure our guys, you know, we still have Dylan (Stewart), we still have BT, we still have guys that are really good players. But obviously losing the depth is going to hurt you down the line in practices and stuff like that. But trying to replace that stuff from last year, it’s a brand new year, so we’re trying to make sure that everyone’s involved. It’s not just the edge room that gets sacks. It’s obviously the d-tackles, linebackers, the DBs.”

How would you evaluate how everything’s gone down with that safety position battle with Peyton Williams, David Bucey, those guys who are competing?

“It’s going very well. Obviously, they all bring something different to the table in regards to how they play, but I think they are doing a really good job of just really competing and helping each other and not really making a personal battle. They understand the best guy goes out there to give us the best chance to win, but I do think they’ve all earned time to showcase their skills.”

Besides the fact of the guys you lost last year, what in your mind is going to be the biggest difference about your defense going into this season?

“Well, it’s hard to tell. Obviously, watching us in scrimmages, watching us play, feels like a very strong defense as far as just our size. We’re a lot bigger if you just go pound for pound, what we weighed last year and how strong we were in the weight room. So that’s kind of the feeling that I have right now. But hopefully we’re still flying around defense, making plays opportunistic, getting the ball back to our quarterback, and giving them multiple opportunities to go score points. That’s really our ultimate goal, and keep points off the board.”

What roles are Justin Okoronkwo and Shawn Murphy going to have in your linebacker room?

“Those guys kind of bring the maturity to that room, which I really love. They’re super smart football players and smart individuals and grown, mature men, which I love. I think that’s what they’re really gonna bring. I do think they have play-making ability. They understand the game. They’re good teammates. They also understand the big picture of football on defense and offensive stuff. So whenever you start adding all that stuff together, you have a chance to be solid. I think you’ve just got to make sure they just give that energy to the rest of the defense. But they’re doing a good job right now, proud of where they are.”

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What are people going to learn about the 2025 Gamecock defense?

“It’s one of those things, as we’re going, you’ll know more of those things, as the season goes. Every year is completely different. It’s obviously not going to be identical. I mean, obviously, it just can’t be, but it can be better. It can also have its own flavor. So that’s kind of what we’re looking forward to, just to see what kind of defense we are. We know the players that we have. I think it’s going to be one of those physical defenses. We have a lot of cover guys, so a lot of versatility within our defense, things that we can do with Jalen Kilgore, Brandon Cisse, Vicari Swain and DQ Smith. So there are multiple things that we can do. We still have Dylan Stewart, so that really helps. And we have Bryan Thomas, those guys coming off the edge, and Desmond (Umeozulu) and J.T. (Geer), veteran guys. So that makes it fun.”

How would you describe what Peyton Williams can bring to that safety spot? And the same thing with Brandon Cisse?

“Peyton Williams is a guy who’s been around here for a while, smart football player from Texas who probably played more football than anybody when it comes to just Texas high school football. You can tell that he’s a veteran guy who kind of understands big-picture football. He’s kind of like a coach on the field. He can be more vocal at times, but I think that’s going to grow with time and more experience on the field. Brandon Cisse is a guy who can play inside and outside at the corner, in the nickel hole. So that’s always hard to find. He kind of gives me a little reminder, a little bit of what Cam Smith did for us in those years that he was here. So that’s fun to have, and that really helps us out.”

With some of the injuries in the EDGE room, does that speed up the development for guys like Jaquavious Dodd and Anthony Addison, who are freshmen?

“It absolutely does. Those guys, I think they will both have some type of role this year anyway. Obviously, we all know, the more the better, especially in this league. You want to have the most guys possible to keep guys fresh in the month of November and October. It gets hard in October, too, in the SEC, but obviously, it speeds up their development. I think that those guys will definitely improve over time and continue to get more reps at practice.”

What did you see from your unit in those two scrimmages that you liked? And then what do you feel like maybe needs to be fine-tuned before the first game gets here?

“Fine-tune our operation mode. Just make sure we get on and off the field on time when we’re subbing groups. There were a couple of big plays that kind of popped out in those certain groups, but we got to do a better job of play entry and those kinds of things, taking great angles to the football, making sure we get closer and closer and closer to the game, don’t get lazy on the small things. I think we got a couple of turnovers, which was good in that scrimmage to see our guys fly around. I love the energy that they had. I think just continue harping on the small things in the day-to-day. And the conditioning, you can never really condition yourself for a game at practice. So I think that’s the main thing.”

Sticking with those turnovers in the second scrimmage, Gerald Kilgore had an impressive interception. What have you seen from him this fall?

“They’re always leaking stuff out, man. They’re supposed to stay out. We don’t want to show that athleticism all the time, but no, I want to keep it, you know, kind of surprise other teams. But no, that was a great play. What I love about Kilgore is that, to me, I always have a lot of respect for football players who put in the work, and you can see the improvement right in front of your eyes. I think that’s what I’ve seen from him, just to focus just the day-to-day details. And I can always tell when a player comes to me to ask me a question, I can tell where they are in our system based on the level of the question. So his questions are starting to get more 300-level questions, not 100-level questions anymore. And then I’m able to kind of dive into the defense with more details, but that’s the part I like about him right now. He has athleticism, just like his brother, but to see him dig more into the details of our system is really fun.”

Based on what play you call, could Cisse move from corner to nickel?

“Nah, that’s not how it works.”

OK, so can you explain what you were talking about then? Like, what do you mean?

“So, one, we have multiple guys that can play corner. So if Kilgore needs a break, Brandon Cisse can play the nickel spot and so play our regular defense.”

What have you seen of DQ Smith kind of being the leader of that safety room now that Nick Emmanwori’s gone?

“The good thing about DQ is that he’s really been a leader since he’s had leadership qualities from day one that he’s been here. He’s a high school quarterback, so he’s always expressed that. But now he is the voice, like he is the muscle back there. He is the one who’s been around the most. So, guys are going to be looking to him for calls and checks, but this is something he’s really used to. Two years ago, last year, he had to kind of be the second and third voice, but now he’s the first voice. But I think it’s cool. Like I said, y’all have heard me before, he’s one of my favorite football players of all time. So teacher’s pet type stuff. He can’t really do any wrong with me.”

Are any of those freshmen linebackers anywhere close to that they can’t do anything wrong?

“Nah, they’ve got a long way to go. Nowhere near a teacher’s pet. They’re good kids, though. This is the most fun I’ve had with the group. I mean, those guys are characters. I’ve definitely dropped a couple of years in age dealing with those guys, but they’re fun, and they’re going to be good.”

How much have you seen them come along these last few weeks?

“It’s been good watching them. Just understanding they didn’t think they could learn this much football. Probably in high school, they had two or three calls that they had to remember seriously, and probably two or three details within that call. Here, I don’t want to give out the number of calls they have to remember, but it’s definitely above 50. You know what I mean? And they didn’t think they could do that. I can just tell by day one that they can learn offenses. They didn’t think they could learn multiple things in a system. So that’s been fun for me as a football coach or their position coach to watch them just elevate that part of that game.”

What does Cisse’s speed and athleticism do for his impact in the DB room?

“I think one quality in the defensive back room is speed, burst and change of direction, and he has all three of those. And then you have the football IQ to go with it, and then the want to to do all those things and have no setbacks in your game. Not many teams have that. I mean, we’ve only had it a couple of times here to have that kind of player, but it means a lot to be able to do that. So it just helps us at the end of games. It helps us if it’s someone goes down, if the team has a dynamic slot, if we want to put Kilgore in other places. So it’s fun. It makes it fun for a coordinator and position coach as well. So just got to keep it up.”

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