Where South Carolina's kill mentality comes from and how it's helped this season
When Debo Williams’ playing days are over, he wants to chase his dreams and eventually have his own show called “The Debo Williams Show” someday. But if he’s ever looking for another career path, motivational speaker might not be a bad place to start.
Throughout this season, Williams has had his share of quotable moments that just make you want to run through a wall. It started back in July when he wanted nothing but “straight donuts” on defense. As of late, he’s even channeled his inner Kobe Bryant after doubling down on his desire for a shutout when he said there was “nothing to be happy about” after holding Texas A&M scoreless in the second half of South Carolina’s 44-20 win.
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The latest development in a long list of Williams’ many catch phrases and sound bites came on Tuesday when Juju McDowell told reporters that this year’s team lives by one word: “Kill”. And of course, that motto originated from Williams, and it’s been reflective in the way South Carolina has played all year.
“You go out there and lay it down, and you kill for one another. You just go out there to die for one another. That’s something we go by,” McDowell said, explaining what the kill mentality means.
“The belief system. The integrity within the building. The trust between one another and the coaches. And just the camaraderie that we have as a unit, as a team. Not letting each other slack, holding each other accountable and literally giving your all out there.”
While the phrase isn’t meant in a literal sense, it’s kind of how the Gamecocks have been playing over the course of their four-game winning streak. Once they get off to a good start, they never really seem to back down. They just keep coming at any opponents who dare to stand in their way.
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This has always been how Williams has approached the game. Even before this season, this was the mindset that he chose to play with. It just took some time before everyone else started to catch on.
“I say kill but it’s really just dominate in anything and everything you do. So, when I first got here as a freshman and I’m saying it, people started looking at me crazy. But I just stayed at it,” Williams said. “Once I started to show what I could do, people were like, ‘Okay, so this works.’ Just bringing energy every day and getting better, it kind of just translated to the whole team.”
[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Wofford football game]
The kill mentality doesn’t just go for the games, though. It’s a mindset that the team lives by every day and has taken in full stride. And it’s worked out well considering the Gamecocks are 7-3 overall and have a chance to win out the rest of the season.
“It’s just all of us competing in everything we do,” Boogie Huntley said. “Practice, games, meetings, whatever it is — just kind of giving everything you’ve got towards it. Not accepting anything but the best. So that’s just kind of been how we practice, and it’s been how we’ve played.”
