South Carolina football: consistency helping Zacch Pickens take next steps
South Carolina defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey walked into a defensive line meeting in February and asked what was different.
The players couldn’t put their finger on it.
Lindsey, entering his second year at South Carolina, pointed out this is the first time the players in that room have had the same coach for consecutive seasons.
“It goes back to continuity and knowing what to do in drills, the types of questions I’m going to ask in position meetings and knowing my coaching style and expectations,” Lindsey said. “It’s been great because they’re able to coach guys as I’m trying to coach.”
For a lot of the older guys in the room, there’s a high probability they’ve been recruited by Lance Thompson and played under John Scott and Tracy Rocker. Then Lindsey came in with the new staff.
It can be hard for those veterans, including Zacch Pickens who finally has some stability late in his Gamecocks career.
“Trying to learn everything in one year throws you off and then you get a new coach. You have to learn what they do and what they like,” Pickens said. “It’s not bad because you take some of the stuff you learn all the other years and put it with coach Lindsey. It’s been really good.”
That consistency is a great thing for Pickens, a former five-star recruit ready to take the next steps in his game.
Pickens bided his time his first few seasons, playing behind future pros in Javon Kinlaw and Kobe Smith.
Last season was his first really seeing consistent playing time. He finished with 28 tackles and 14 quarterback hurries in 562 snaps.
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He had the option, if he wanted it, to explore the professional route. But he opted to come back to South Carolina and try to make an even bigger jump in his senior season.
“Me and my mom were thinking about it. I had an opportunity of leaving but there’s still some stuff I was lacking in pass rush,” Pickens said. “Me and coach Lindsey are working on pass rush and trying to stay low and get my footwork right. I’m using my time to put that in.”
And the growth even a year in is undeniable for Pickens. Lindsey said he is “night and day” better than where he was a year ago during spring at South Carolina.
He’s progressed really well. Now it’s cool because he can come off the field when a certain situation happens and he can explain it to me what happened or what he did or say, ‘Hey coach, I tried this move’ or ‘I got this blocking scheme,’” Lindsey said. “It’s great to see his football IQ grow. Obviously, it’s not there where we want it yet but it’s night and day. It’s helped him improve as a player.”
Time will tell if Pickens can take that next step. Lindsey has seen a jump in the things he wanted to see jumps in dating back to a year ago.
“Man, Zacch, the first thing I told him after watching tape from the year before we got here was to improve on his fundamentals from hand placement to footwork to pad level to explosion to lockout,” Lindsey said. “Then understanding how to get off blocks in certain schemes. Then just learning how to tackle, which is a lost art for D-linemen.”
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