‘We’re gonna figure that out.’ Breaking down South Carolina’s cornerback competition

There are two things people care about in spring camp.

1. The quarterbacks.

2. Everything else.

In the midst of a quarterback competition, it is easy to brush everything else aside. Who cares about receiver depth when no one knows who’s gonna be throwing the passes? That will be the talk for the next few weeks — or maybe months — as the Gamecocks coaching staff lets quarterbacks LaNorris Sellers, Auburn transfer Robby Ashford and Oklahoma transfer Davis Beville battle for the starting job.

But on the other side of the ball is a positional battle that is not just undoubtedly more wide open, but might last longer, too: Cornerback.

With Marcellas Dial off to the NFL, the Gamecocks have a starting corner job up for grabs. It is expected that redshirt senior O’Donnell Fortune — who started 10 games last season while picking off two passes — will nab one of the starting gigs. But the other CB job is unsettled.

“There’s no timetable for this thing. It can go into fall camp for multiple weeks,” said defensive backs coach Torrian Gray. “Whoever is going to be consistent (long enough) for you to trust, we’re gonna figure that out.”

Let’s meet the candidates:

#8 EMORY FLOYD // R-SO. // 6-1, 195 lbs

The oldest man in the group, Floyd is heading into his third season at South Carolina having only played in five total games. After last year ended, Floyd was disappointed. He, of course, wanted to play more.

Rather than hit the transfer portal, Floyd made another drastic move. He quit the South Carolina track team, where he ran sprints last spring, so he could devote all of his time to football this spring.

To Gray, it signaled a shift.

“I’ve seen an Emory that I haven’t seen before,” gray said. “I’ve seen an Emory I wasn’t sure we’d ever get here. ... He could’ve ran track, but that was one of the first things where I was like, ‘Oh?! OK.”

Rather than splitting time with track and football, as receiver Nyck Harbor is doing right now, Floyd went through the eight-week weight-room training and the strength coaches were telling Gray how impressed they were with him.

When spring camp finally started, the intensity kept ramping up. Floyd is more focused in the meeting room. He’s more cognizant on the details of the position. He’s making a real case to be a starter.

“I know I can play here at South Carolina,” Floyd said. “I’m just trying to compete every day and get myself on the field.”

#20 JUDGE COLLIER // SO. // 6-1, 195 lbs.

The Rock Hill native was thrown right into the fire as a freshman, playing in every game while recording 10 total tackles.

Now in his second spring camp, he’s realizing just how much he was learning on the fly last season.

“I know a lot more than I did this time last year, for sure,” Collier said. “The game is slowing down for me a lot.”

Collier is one of those versatile defensive backs coaches love. He’s only 6-1, but has a massive wingspan that affords him more range to make tackles and allows him to excel at pressing receivers.

A three-star prospect in the Class of 2023, Collier feels more comfortable this season. And not just on the field, but with meetings and preparation and everything in between.

“When you get talented guys out of high school,” Gray said, “sometimes, they don’t understand the urgency of the position and why you have to strain and why you have to be detailed for the position. ... That’s been a lot more consistent.”

#4 VICARI SWAIN// R-FR. // 6-1, 188 lbs

Swain has some ground to make up.

He was a part of the same 2023 class as Collier, but didn’t enroll in the summer. So even though Swain was a higher-rated four-star prospect, Collier was the one on campus last spring getting a head start.

It translated to the season, where Collier played in every game and Swain was granted a redshirt after appearing in just three contests.

Swain came to Columbia after playing both wide receiver and cornerback in high school, which meant Gray’s mission has been to rid Swain of his “wide receiver footwork.”

“It was kind of hard for me to adapt,” he said. “My footwork out of high school wasn’t as good as it should’ve been. But, now versus then, my (footwork) has gotten a lot better.”