Next-door neighbors Herrera and Joyce assess their ongoing starting kicker battle

Alex Herrera and William Joyce are in a very unique situation at the moment. They’re currently locked into a competition to see who will be South Carolina’s starting kicker this fall.

… And they also happen to be next-door neighbors. Imagine how tough that must be, right?

“It’s definitely difficult. I’ve been hanging out with Alex for a long time,” Joyce said. “We’re always hanging out — good friends. It’s just a matter of we want each other to succeed, I’d say.”

For as long as the two have been on the team, the Gamecocks have always had a reliable, experienced kicker to handle field goals. They were both around when Parker White became the school’s all-time leading scorer in 2021. Then over the last two years, Mitch Jeter took the reins from White and only missed two field goals, both coming from over 50 yards.

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But in the offseason, Jeter transferred to Notre Dame, which leaves a big void at a position that is just as important as any other right now. So that’s where Herrera and Joyce come into the picture. Two friends duking it out, while making sure it doesn’t get in the way of their jobs.

“When it comes to kicking, I’d say it really just matters as soon as we get on the field is when that friendship, I mean, I’d say it never ends. We both want each other to do good while also doing our best ourselves,” Joyce said.

On the surface, Herrera would seemingly have the leg up on Joyce. He’s a sixth-year senior who has waited his turn for years now. Not to mention, head coach Shane Beamer placed him on scholarship in December.

But if Herrera knows one thing about playing under Beamer, it’s that nothing will ever be handed to him or any of his teammates.

“Coach Beamer says it all the time, one of our core values is compete,” Herrera said. “All the kickers are taking reps during practice. Coach Beamer said he’s never promised any of us anything except for the opportunity to compete. So that’s what we’re doing.”

Through six practices, it’s been a strong competition, according to both kickers. Herrera, who only made four extra-point attempts in his career, is happy with how he’s performing so far.

“I don’t know exactly what my stats are right now,” he said. “We’ll rotate each day, so I’ll kick one day with another guy, then I’ll do kickoffs the next day. It’s like every other day, but I’m kicking pretty well. I have confidence in myself.”

It’s a similar deal for Joyce, who hasn’t kicked in a game since joining the team as a walk-on in 2021. With a chance to change that, the redshirt junior has been getting a lot more reps in during practice, more than he was used to in previous seasons.

“It can get a little fatiguing,” Joyce said. “But one thing I think that Joe D has done really well, and us as a group, has been to manage our workload still. And then we do a lot of things to help our bodies recover, obviously. We’ll do things during practice where if we’re not necessarily kicking, we’ll go in the weight room and get recovery and stretch and do different things that way.”

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It’s all been an adjustment so to speak with the competition for Joyce. But as time has gone on, he feels more prepared to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him.

“I know when I got here, my initial expectations were to compete. But honestly, I don’t think I was ready at that time,” he said. “I’ve needed the past three years to develop. But definitely grateful for this opportunity. I’m just trying to do my best.”

It’s also worth noting that it’s not just two kickers in this battle — Daniel Lester, Peyton Argent and Mason Love are in on it as well. But it looks like it will probably come down to Herrera or Joyce when all is said and done.

With 23 days to go until the season opener, there’s still plenty of time for Herrera and Joyce to create separation between themselves. But it seems this competition will come down to the wire.

“(Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis) kind of made it sound like it’s going to be close to game time is when that competition is going to go, as long as it’s going to take until they figure out they got a guy,” Joyce said.

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