Tonka Hemingway: South Carolina defensive line transfers are doing 'real good'

South Carolina fans, put on your headphones. Gamecocks defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway is here to deliver sweet music to your ears.

During SEC Media Days, Hemingway discussed South Carolina’s transfer additions to the defensive line. He had nothing but good things to say.

“They’ve been doing real good. They came in. They’re working hard. They’re trying to get things down. They come from different backgrounds. They’ve been working real hard. Putting in extra work, film time,” Hemingway said.

The Gamecocks lost 16 players in the transfer portal this offseason while adding nine. Several of those fresh faces will boost South Carolina’s defensive line, including Jatius Geer (Syracuse).

While at Syracuse, Geer produced 30 tackles, 3.5 sacks, a pass deflection, and a forced fumble over 14 games, including 12 starts. Hemingway isn’t the only one thrilled to add the 6-foot-5, 260-pound threat.

“[I’m] excited about him. He had a productive year last year at Syracuse,” South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said in May. “[He’s] somebody who’s from the state of South Carolina. So, it’s important to get a South Carolinian back on our roster, especially one that’s as productive as he is. And especially one that’s at a position of need like he is.”

It certainly is a position of need. The Gamecocks recorded just 20 sacks last season, ranking 110th in the nation. Further, South Carolina only averaged 4.4 tackles for loss per outing, nearly the worst in the country. Players like Hemingway will be the key to flipping these figures on their heads.

In 2022, Hemingway tallied career-highs in tackles (33), tackles for loss (8) and sacks (4). He also notched 24 quarterback pressures and 16 hurries. Due to a minor surgery after the season, Hemingway could not participate in spring camp. Nonetheless, the South Carolina senior did his best to educate the new Gamecocks.

“It was really weird,” Hemingway said. “I had to learn some new things. And help the young guys teaching them tips and tricks that I learned here from other people.” 

With or without Hemingway’s teaching, Beamer is confident in his team.

“One thing I know is it’s a hard-working group. They’re hungry to show that last year, the end of last season, wasn’t a fluke. To show that we have a much higher ceiling than just eight wins. Certainly, they’ve shown me that with their work ethic since they came back in January.

“What we’ve talked about since January is there should be no complacency in our program. We went from two wins to seven wins to eight wins. So we’ve done some great things. But we’ve got a lot to improve on as well,” Beamer said.