New Gamecock running backs coach’s first impressions of Kevin Harris, MarShawn Lloyd
South Carolina football’s newest assistant, running backs coach Montario Hardesty, has never been a position group coach in the SEC before.
For his first gig, he’s inheriting a unit stacked with talent.
Sophomore Kevin Harris emerged as one of the best tailbacks in the SEC this past season, earning second-team all-conference honors after rushing for 1,138 yards and 15 touchdowns. Despite playing an abbreviated 10-game schedule, he ranked No. 5 in program history for rushing yards in a season and tied for second for rushing touchdowns.
And he did it all with little support from the Gamecocks’ passing game, which ranked near the bottom of the league in nearly every statistical category.
But Harris wasn’t even supposed to start for South Carolina this past year — freshman MarShawn Lloyd was widely expected to be the lead before he tore his ACL last August.
Lloyd was South Carolina’s most well regarded running back recruit since Marcus Lattimore when he signed as part of the 2020 class. His commitment was considered a coup for USC, as Lloyd spurned offers from nearly two dozen other Power 5 programs, including powerhouses Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia and Notre Dame, among others.
The blue chip, four-star back seemed to be living up to the hype in offseason workouts before his injury, wowing teammates and coaches alike.
So with Harris and Lloyd expected to form a fearsome 1-2 punch next season, Hardesty was clearly pleased addressing the state of the position when he was introduced to reporters Tuesday.
“Just meeting with those guys this morning, those two guys are very smart. They’re gonna be very smart running backs,” Hardesty said. “That’s what you need in our system. Because it’s going to be running back-centric, but it’s NFL style so you have to know pass protection and how to run routes, all different types of zone plays that we got inside and outside. But those guys are engineering majors. They’re really smart running backs as well. I think they’re good kids. I’ve heard nothing but good things about them. I’m excited to work with those guys.”
Connection between coach and player
Speaking on each back individually, Hardesty said he scouted Lloyd when he was recruiting the Washington, D.C. area, where Lloyd played high school ball at powerhouse DeMatha. Hardesty called Lloyd one of his favorite players coming out of the area and revealed they actually have another connection.
“To have him here in the fold and coming off injury, I was able to talk to him today, and the craziest thing is I actually had the same injury my freshman year and was able to bounce back and be an All-SEC player,” Hardesty said, referencing his playing days at Tennessee. “I was talking to him about how I can help him through those things.”
Harris wasn’t as highly regarded a recruit as Lloyd was, but Hardesty said he took note of him while watching South Carolina from afar this past season.
“Seeing Kevin Harris come on last year, I watched the opening game against Tennessee early in the season and then just to watch more games — early on he wasn’t the main guy, but he persevered through that and just came through running the pill last year,” Hardesty said. “He’s a big, stocky, sturdier guy but he runs the ball hard. He has explosive plays.”
Behind Harris and Lloyd, Hardesty also has a number of other strong players. Former three-star back Rashad Amos appeared in three games in 2020, tallying 99 yards on 18 attempts. Redshirt senior ZaQuandre White got in nine games and went 59 yards on 16 carries. And incoming freshman Caleb McDowell is a speedy back considered one of the top prospects in USC’s class.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 9:00 AM with the headline "New Gamecock running backs coach’s first impressions of Kevin Harris, MarShawn Lloyd."
