Senior linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams, known as a vocal leader on the Gamecocks roster, looks to implement his leadership abilities in Will Muschamp’s second season at the helm in Columbia.
With the current roster holding only 13 seniors, Allen-Williams will lead the pack among what is expected to be a young, talented squad this fall. In addition to Allen-Williams, key returners on the team include quarterback Jake Bentley, running back Rico Dowdle and tight end Hayden Hurst.
With the return of linebacker Skai Moore from an injury that left him redshirted in the 2016 season, Muschamp said Moore’s and Allen-Williams’ abilities on the field will help mold to the roster as a whole.
“Skai and Bryson Allen are two guys that have played a lot of football,” Muschamp said. “They are two very well-respected guys within the locker room. That means a lot. They are two experienced players and productive players as well ... Those guys do lead by example by how they prepare, how they practice and how they go about their business, but they are very productive.”
Allen-Williams noted that senior leadership will be a key component for success this season in addition to having a steady buy-in from players into Muschamp’s system.
“Not having flux between year-to-year, that’s actually helping us out a lot,” Allen-Williams said. “We have an established culture, we have a direction that we’re trying to go in, and people aren’t going to differ from that. We have senior leadership, guys who are stepping up to take charge of the team, we’re running the team. We want it to be a big family ... [and we want to] lay down the foundation for the program moving forward.”
Allen-Williams played in every game in 2016, ranking second on the team with 75 tackles, including 46 solo tackles, and 8.5 tackles for loss, according to GamecocksOnline. He showed his defensive versatility towards the end of last season, picking off passes against Clemson in the regular season finale and South Florida in the Birmingham Bowl.
During the offseason, Allen-Williams spent his summer in Columbia, completing an internship with ABC Columbia. His experiences as part of the Beyond Sports program helped him gain a grasp of real-world experiences outside of the gridiron. Those experiences prepared him for gaining new experiences in his final season as a Gamecock, Allen-Williams said.
“The stuff that helps us in football tends to translate in the real world, especially when you’re working,” Allen-Williams said. “Just hard work on the football field translates to hard work in the workplace. That’s the biggest thing for me. Knowing that you could always learn something new, you could always go somewhere thinking that you know everything but you’re not going to get anything out of it. When you go into things with an open mind, you usually end up learning things you didn’t know.”