Greg Adkins eager to begin working with three signees

Before South Carolina ever played a single game under Shane Beamer, the Gamecocks had their offensive line class locked up.

South Carolina had all three of its offensive line signees in the boat before the season opener: Grayson Mains, Cason Henry and Ryan Brubaker.

While none of them are on campus this spring, offensive line coach Greg Adkins can’t wait to get them in the system.

“I really like all three of their makeups and I like their backgrounds,” Adkins said. “I like their families. They’re tough guys who love football and are really good students.”

Mains is more of an interior offensive lineman while the other project more at tackle. Their primary positions, though, will be determined once they get in this summer, though.

All three are three-star prospects with Brubaker an all-state swimmer.

It might be hard for those three to crack the starting lineup for South Carolina given how hard it is for freshmen to play early on the offensive line.

But Adkins isn’t ruling any of that out until he gets to see them in person.

“I’ve always said the best guys are going to play. If they fit into that mold then they’re going to play,” he said. “Their communication skills are off the charts already in terms of coach to player and in terms of them together.”

All three will arrive once they graduate this summer. They’ll then get to campus over the summer and begin learning the offensive system under Marcus Satterfield.

“All three of those kids have a little bit different of a skill set. They’re probably all a little different coming out of high school based on the offenses they played in,” Adkins said. “I’ll be anxious to see when they get here in the summer time.”

The Gamecocks are coming off an up and down year where they played well at times.

South Carolina struggled to protect the quarterback and had an inconsistent performance in the run game.

The Gamecocks have every starter from last year returning and Adkins hopes they, with the addition of those new pieces, continue to make strides.  

I think that is right there were some ups and downs. The consistency upfront throughout the season wasn’t good. As the season moved on, you saw some progression and more consistency,” he said. “Their attitude and everything is a work in progress but they’ve done a nice job so far in spring practice.”