On Sunday, June 9, South Carolina linebacker Debo Williams appeared as a guest on an episode of The Welcome Home Podcast.
Williams discussed numerous topics on the podcast, including how the Gamecock football program has been looking during the offseason. Here are some of the the key points he mentioned in the interview.
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Question: What about the offensive and defensive lines have changed during practice?
Williams: “Competition — it’s just raised. You got to be better than what you were before. You got to keep increasing because other guys are coming and they’re getting better as well, so you got to keep getting better. The biggest difference, I think, this season is going to be the standard. We’re completely changing the standard. You see how you just said, ‘It (last season) was a failure because it wasn’t a bowl game?’ It was a failure because we didn’t win a championship. It’s no more, ‘Oh, yeah, we got to make a bowl game.’ No, we’re winning the championship. Don’t lose any games — that’s just the standard we’re sitting, so the mentality has been changed.”
What have you seen from LaNorris Sellers in practice?
“All the coverage and the media and the potential you all think he has, probably times two or three. He’s going to be a problem. I have no doubt in my mind he’s going to be dominate. He’s an athletic freak, willing to learn fast. And he wants to be great. So, I have no doubt in my mind.”
How has this offseason been for Nyck Harbor as he balances football with track and field?
“He just wants to be great in whatever he does, so I know he’s been putting that work in. Right now, he has the ability to do something no one else has been able to really do. I know he’s trying to go to the Olympics, and also being a Division I (wide receiver). When you got something like that in a lifetime, you have to take advantage of it. And I think that’s exactly what he’s been doing. I know he’s going to come and dominate and do what he does best.
How has Mohamed Kaba been coming along in his recovery from injury?
“He does his own rehab, of course, with our departments. But alongside from that, I’ve been doing my two-a-days since I was a senior year of high school. And it’s helped me tremendously. He’s started doing that with me. We’ve been doing that since spring. We’ll just go in the weight room or go on the field and just get extra work. After we do our team workout in the morning, we come back around 4 or 5 p.m., whichever time we feel good with, and just come back and get extra work.
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“He’s hungry. He’s not being deterred by injuries or anything. And he wants it — but he’s taking the right precautions to make sure he’s good. He’ll be straight, though. He’s got the mindset, and that’s what it starts with.”
Who are two returning South Carolina players, one each on offense and defense, who have impressed you this offseason?
“Maybe I’m being a little biased because he is in my linebacker room, but defensive-wise, I’m going with Bam Martin-Scott. He just got Most Improved (Player of the Spring), and it was deserved. He’s been putting that work in with me, by himself, whatever. I can always count on him to be there. He’s been grinding. He came in with me, the same year, and I’ve seen him just grow tremendously — mentally, physically, everything. I know he’s going to have a great season, and we’re going to make each other better.
“Offensively, I’m going to have with Cason (Henry). He puts that work in, right off the O-line. He’s a dog. He and I are going to have some times this camp. We’re about to go at it. But that’s my boy, though. He’s going to be one of the top offensive lineman in the country this year.”
How do you feel heading into the 2024 season?
“We’re going to give it our all, for sure. As mad as you all (South Carolina fans) are as last season went, I can promise you, we feel five times even worse. So, we’re not going to allow that to happen. We’re ready to dominate. We’re hungry — starving, actually. All I can say is that time will tell. I can’t tell you exactly how that’s going to be because that’s football for you. But we’re going to give you all we got.”
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