A student’s experience at the University of South Carolina is often highlighted by hanging out with friends, spending hours studying and cheering on the Gamecocks. But for a select few students, much of it is spent being the most popular bird on campus.
Cocky, the ever-spirited, high-energy Gamecock, has been the official mascot of South Carolina since 1980. Cocky is a huge part of the gameday experience, as he is always seen strolling the sidelines at games and interacting with fans.
For many students in the last 40 years, donning the Cocky suit has been an opportunity of a lifetime. Alexis Kiser, a 2018 alumna, got her start as Cocky as a second-year student after trying out.
After that, Kiser went on to make numerous appearances as Cocky, including at the 2017 NCAA women’s basketball national championship in Dallas, Texas. However, one of Kiser’s favorite parts of being Cocky was having a “unique look” at South Carolina fans.
“If you’re a USC fan, everybody loves Cocky,” Kiser said. “You just get to see the pure joy of people, unadulterated happiness that people have being around Cocky, getting a picture, getting a high five, getting something signed.”
Erika Goodwin, head cheerleading coach and spirit coordinator, has similar sentiments. Working with and coaching Cocky has been a “pleasure and an honor” over the last 17 years, she said.
“My favorite parts are the interaction with Cocky in general,” Goodwin said. “He’s such a fun personality, and being able to see him in action at the games and at events and receive photos where he’s touched the lives of our Gamecock fans in such a positive way is very rewarding.”
One of the more famous traditions of being the Cocky is students keeping their identity a secret during their time at South Carolina. Matt Hammett, a 2020 alum, said there were many occasions where he wanted to tell fellow students that he was the famous bird.
Hammett also said it was not only tough for him to keep his secret under wraps, but tough for his family and friends, too. But after he graduated from South Carolina, Hammett said he decided to create a podcast called “A Little Bit Cocky” to finally tell others about his experience.
“I just thought it was important to share with people and kind of let them know not only the impact being Cocky got to have on me and the people around me, but also the impact that the fans have on me, the other people that have portrayed Cocky and the importance of the continuance of that persona,” Hammett said.
But while being the mascot was a great experience for Kiser and Hammett, being the mascot was time consuming for the two Cockys. Hammett said that being Cocky is a big time commitment, citing that he stopped counting his sophomore year after he did about 800 events.
Despite the workload, Hammett and Kiser said they both enjoyed their time as Cocky.
“It’s just an honor of a lifetime, getting to be Cocky,” Kiser said. “I miss it so much, I don’t think I could ever do it again now that I’m a little bit older, but I keep my [Cocky] feet in my office on the top shelf of my bookshelf as a running joke that job-wise, I peaked in college.”