Everything Clayton White said previewing South Carolina spring practice on 107.5 The Game

South Carolina defensive coordinator Clayton White joined Tyler Head and the GamecockCentral crew Tuesday to discuss the school’s Pro Day and the beginning of spring ball.

Check out the transcript from the interview below.

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Q&A with Clayton White

Q: Coach, first of all, appreciate you taking your time. Pro Day is always exciting, but with so many of your guys getting set to play at the next level, it’s got to be extra special for you.

A: Yeah, absolutely. First of all, thanks for having me on. I think this is a great opportunity for all of our guys to come out here and showcase their talent. Appreciate all the NFL teams coming. I think it’s definitely fun watching these guys perform.

Q: Is it fun to talk about the guys when you know they all seem to be just great kids, great people as well? I know all the NFL teams are going to ask your opinion, but you don’t have to fib when they seem like such great individuals.

A: Yeah, I do believe once those NFL scouts, they do a great job of their homework. On the field is the easy part for them to figure out what kind of player they are, but they do a lot of soul searching. And pretty much when an NFL scout or executive asks me about a player, I know they want to know how does he learn, what’s his character like. And it’s definitely been pretty cool being able to talk about our guys, knowing that you don’t have to try to hide anything. You can be honest 99% of the time and make sure that you give those kids a good look.

Q: A lot of your guys were at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Nick Emmanwori blew everybody out of the water with all of his testing. Did anything about what he did up there surprise you at all?

A: It’s funny you say that because, I mean, I text Nick. I said, “Nick, this is pretty cool, man. When everyone is kind of surprised at what you did and me and you, we all knew the whole time.” He said, “Coach, that’s the best part about it that nobody really knew.” And now everybody knows kind of, you know, what we have brewing here at South Carolina, led by him at the combine. A lot of guys I thought did pretty well at the combine. But it was pretty cool letting the world know that they kind of breed them a little different over here in the waters in South Carolina.

Q: What do you remember about seeing Nick actually in this very facility when he came here for his high school camp and got the offer from South Carolina?

A: Yep, and that’s obviously a story in itself, right? Obviously, it’s a longer story. But we just remember him walking in the building and I’m like, “Okay, 6-foot-3. Okay, not bad. 208 (pounds). Not bad. Thirty-nine vertical. Not bad. 4.47 (40-yard-dash). Not bad.” So just remember all that stuff. And I think a broad jump was almost ten-six that day of a kid who we really weren’t recruiting at the time. And then just watching him go up and grab the football out the air and just how competitive he was that day. The combine did remind me a little bit of that. So we knew he was going to show out at the combine. But he’s just an unbelievable, gifted athlete, you know, God-given talent and ultra edgy competitor on top of that.

Q: When it comes to recruiting, how do you balance the production you see on the field versus the athleticism and how they fit into your system?

A: In today’s world, we have access to a lot of tape, a lot of different things that really help. So you can kind of piece together what you can get from a player — you can type in height, weight, you can type in speed if they hit a max speed at some point. It’s not easy to try to identify somebody in 10 days if you think they could fit your system because the portal happens faster than (high school) recruiting. So you’ve got to kind of do it right within 10 days — really within a day — to realize if he fits your system. That makes it kind of hard. You’re going to hit and miss. I think we hit on a couple this year and I think that’s the most important piece — that you get the ones right.

Q: Let’s talk about the guys in your room. What is an NFL team going to get if they draft Debo Williams, Bam Scott, or Demetrius Knight?

A: Definitely love seeing the guys. They all came in yesteday, I didn’t see Debo yesterday, but I saw Debo today, and D. Knight’s been working out here so it’s been awesome. To me, they’re all three different players. Debo Williams is a fan favorite. Debo is a hitter — the guy that’s going to make some noise when he’s on the field. Bam Scott is a super athlete who you can have a lot of fun with in terms of moving him around and being versatile. And Demetrius Knight is kind of like your senior class president, your student body president. He does a lot of different things. Very smart, grown man, professional. Those guys are really good players and great people.

Q: Debo didn’t get to go to the combine. Was he a little more fired up today to prove some people wrong?

A: No, I mean, sometimes you have to just stay in your lane and understand that it’s unfortunate that he didn’t get a chance to go. I do think he definitely had a career to where he should have been able to showcase his talents at that level. I’m pretty sure today he’s just focused and having fun. Today’s a fun day. It’s another opportunity to showcase your skill set and I hope he’s having fun and relaxed, to be honest with you.

Q: Spring ball starts tomorrow. What’s your goal as you look at the totality of the upcoming spring?

A: Yes. One, I can’t believe it’s year five. It goes by very fast. Very, very fortunate to be at a university and a program working for Shane Beamer. It’s been fun. I kind of have a feeling like I’m a college basketball coach, meaning it’s almost like all my one-and-dones have left. I have a whole new roster, whole new linebacker room. So I’m a little bit younger. I feel younger, just because I have a younger room, especially (at linebacker). I told them yesterday, it’s new faces but the same standard, maybe a higher standard. Our guys last year showed us on tape how to do it in this defense and how we want it done. It’s going to be fun, it really is. I’m excited.

Q: Dawn Staley always talked about the difference of having young freshmen come in for her. You may have different personalities than your 23-year-old guys. Do you approach this group any differently, or is it more like, “Hey, y’all know the standard. It’s up to the newcomers to meet it?”

A: That’s the mindset that was given to them yesterday, and it’s going to be a process. We know it’s not going to happen overnight, so we’ve got to do a great job as coaches in implementing our stuff. But like I said, our guys showed us last year how to do it. Now it’s your turn to go out there and do it. But those guys are eager. They’re all very smart, which I think is a key part. You’ve got to have the football IQ and/or the willingness to learn.

Q: This year some of the portal guys were highly touted out of high school but haven’t had as much production in college. How do you approach the development different this offseason?

A: First thing is to make sure they understand how we do things here at South Carolina. Make sure they understand the lay of the land and how we operate. The second thing is, we start football school every January. We attack that moment just to get them on the same page with our defensive playbook and how we talk and how we walk. Tomorrow’s practice, we really just told those guys to fly around and play football. We don’t have a ton of stuff in on Install 1 just so we can kind of access what we have and go from there.

Q: Everybody knows Dylan Stewart now. What’s the next step for his development this offseason?

A: Dylan Stewart is another rare player, a rare athlete. He’s trying to get better at something every single day. With Dylan, it’s just about overall strength — continuing to get stronger. He’s still at the end of his freshman year, so he’s just got to continue to develop in the weight room. He’s working very hard with Coach (Luke) Day and his staff to get stronger. The main thing is to maintain his weight between 245 and 252 all the way through the season. But everything else, you can’t say too much to Dylan Stewart, you just make sure he understands where he’s aligned at (and turn him loose). He’s pretty good (laughs).

Q: Any new names that have stood out so far through offseason workouts?

A: Besides the obvious names, I think our guys are doing a good job. Davonte Miles has had a really good offseason. He was a guy who was really wanted to come here so he can just flourish in this program and what we have to offer from a nutrition, from a development (standpoint), and just a chance to grow his body. He’s up to probably 275 and will be 285–290 when we play. Dindy has had a really good offseason. We have a little Carolina Combine we do too, he did a really good job. Our linebackers are doing good — Murphy and J.O. And Cisse has had a really great offseason, and so has Myles Norwood. It’s been a good group, man. I thought we went after what we needed (in the portal).

Q: Coach, we appreciate you taking a few minutes. Very exciting day with a lot of your guys getting the opportunity to play at the next level. Can’t wait to see what happens this fall.

A: Thanks a lot, man. Go Gamecocks.

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