Marcus Lattimore's message to South Carolina newcomers this preseason
It wasn’t that long ago that Marcus Lattimore arrived on campus at South Carolina for his first preseason camp.
Playing for Shane Beamer in 2010 when Beamer was still an assistant coach at USC, Lattimore knows there’s no secret about how you can earn playing time from him.
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“There’s such a big emphasis on special teams with our team. They do so many special teams drills. That’s a big chunk of practice,” said Lattimore. “Everybody is involved and everybody is watching. All of the coaches coach special teams. If you can impress in that area, that’s something you really want to do. That’s something you really want to do early, practically with coach Beamer and his enthusiasm around that part of the game. That area of the game is huge for us. Impress in that area to earn the respect of the coaches.”
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But earning respect doesn’t end there.
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“When it comes to those live periods, make an impression there to get respect from your teammates. Respect is what you’re trying to gain because nobody cares how much you talk. Nobody cares what your ranking was or what you did at your other school. If you come in and put somebody on the ground during an Oklahoma drill then, okay. If you’re flying down on those kickoff drills that Pete Lembo sets up and you’re blowing up somebody then you’re really separating yourself.”
But perhaps the biggest piece of advice Lattimore has for newcomers is being committed each day.
“Installs come so fast. From Day 1 to Day 8, there’s probably gonna be about four to five installs. From formations to motions to shifts. Obviously you also have all of the plays that you have to learn. Can you keep up? Can you learn? What are you doing when you do have that little break (during preseason camp)? Yeah, get a little nap in but you also need to look at your playbook. At night, can you put 30 minutes in by looking at your playbook? Can you wake up and put in another 30 minutes just so that when the question is asked in the meeting room you don’t have to worry about it? So all of these guys coming in, study your a** off.”
