Judge Collier 'left a lot of money' on the field last year. He's hoping to change that in 2025

Sure, there were a lot of good moments for Judge Collier last season. But when he looks back at his overall performance, there are some things that he feels he could’ve done differently.

After earning a starting spot as a defensive back, Collier, only a sophomore at the time, started in all 13 games and had 28 tackles, including 23 solo stops and three tackles for loss. He also led the Gamecocks with eight pass breakups.

But Collier can sometimes be his own harshest critic. Even when he earned second-team All-SEC honors, he’s still tough on himself and knows he can be a lot better. It’s mainly the plays that he didn’t make last year that still bother him a little bit.

“They stick with you,” Collier said. “… When we watch film in here, those plays pop up, and it’s like, ‘Dang, I wish I had that back.’ But it is what it is.”

Your GamecockCentral membership starts at just $1 for the first week – and we’ll throw in a complimentary year of access to The Athletic.

Going into his third season at South Carolina, Collier will look to lock down his spot as a second-year starter. He’s also coming into this year as a man on a mission and trying to be more impactful as a playmaker.

“I had left a lot of money on the field last year,” he said. “So when I get my hands on those balls, you know, just being able to secure them and turn those PBUs into INTs.”

At the same time, though, he’s trying to be better about not letting the bad moments affect his play on the field. Again, he wants to be at his best all the time, but even he knows there will be adversity throughout the year. It’s inevitable and up to him how he handles it.

“As a DB, I still gotta remind myself of this now, it’s just having short-term memory. Focus on the next play. Can’t let it affect you,” Collier said. “Can’t let one bad play affect a series. One bad series can turn into a bad game. A bad game can turn into a bad season.”

Collier returns as one of the more experienced players in the secondary. In two seasons, the York County native has appeared in 25 games and made 15 career starts. After losing Nick Emmanwori and O’Donnell Fortune, both of whom were multi-year starters for the Gamecocks, Collier will be depended on more than ever.

“The confidence as a secondary as a whole. We’re as deep as ever in the secondary room. Everybody has confidence. It’s a great competition in there. We lost Nick last year, but we have a lot of guys who came in. So I feel like we’re in a great spot.”

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!