Trey Knox credits teammates with easing his transition to South Carolina
Every tight end on South Carolina’s roster has dealt with change in some capacity during the offseason.
For Trey Knox, this “change” came in the form of relocating 921 miles from Fayetteville, Arkansas. After spending the past four seasons at Arkansas, he is ready to begin anew at another SEC program.
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Since joining the Gamecocks this past winter, Knox has spent time acclimating himself to his new home in Columbia. He was a participant in the team’s spring practices, which helped him become more familiar with South Carolina’s offensive setup. Having Dowell Loggains, his former tight ends coach at Arkansas, as his new offensive coordinator has eased his transition, too.
Knox said being around teammates in similar positions as himself has also helped in making these adjustments.
This season, all seven tight ends listed on the Gamecocks’ roster are new to the program. Over the past few months, the shared newness of being in South Carolina has helped bring them all closer, Knox said.
“The good thing is everybody started with a clean slate. I mean, the whole room is filled with new people, and we’ve jelled and bonded great together,” Knox said. “We just have fun playing football every day, man. We’re excited to go out there and showcase our talent and what our room can do.”
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There has arguably been more change in the tight ends room than any other position group on the Gamecocks’ roster. This means more on the plate of tight ends coach Jody Wright, who has worked to get each player up to speed on the team’s new offense.
According to Knox, Wright has done a great job of getting everyone on the same page and instilling a winning culture within the unit.
“You got to give credit to Coach Wright bringing all these personalities in and just helping the room creating a culture of playing hard and knowing what to do,” Knox said. “We’re very excited and happy to go play.”
Knox acknowledged that meeting new teammates was one of the more stressful parts of his transition to South Carolina. His worries quickly dissipated once he became more accustomed to the Gamecocks’ welcoming environment.
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“As a freshman, you’re worried about the new people that you meet. Now, me being an older guy and having to start this thing over, basically, so that was probably the hardest thing,” Knox said. “But my teammates made it easy, and the transition has been so smooth, so I give credit to my whole team. They made me feel welcome, made me feel part of the family since day one, so I’m just very excited and glad to be here.”
Because of this, Knox said he was able to spend more time this summer on fine-tuning his game.
“Just definitely working on my craft. There’s no time to slip off and not get better,” Knox said. “I think my focus this summer was just coming in here and getting better and cleaning up the small details. That’s what I think the goal is. I have the talent to play, but it’s the small details that will take my game to the next level.”
