Former Sumter High DB Gregg guiding next generation as Gamecock assistant coach

Jordan Gregg was a standout defensive back for Sumter High in the mid-2010's. After graduating in 2018, he took his talents to Catawba College and UNC Pembroke, where he continued to thrive.

In four years at Catawba, he collected 142 total tackles, broke up 12 passes and created three turnovers. In a season at UNC Pembroke, he picked off a pass, recovered a fumble and racked up 30 tackles, making four stops in the backfield.

But part of Gregg's heart was always back in Sumter. He regularly came back to coach in various camps, including a Flight School he launched with fellow SHS alumnus Tylee Craft in the summer of 2023. That itch for coaching never went away, so when the opportunity to turn pro didn't fully materialize, Gregg returned to his alma mater and is spending his first year out of school molding the next generation of star defensive backs at Sumter High.

"It was always a backup plan for me to come back," he said. "I always stayed in contact with Coach (Brian) Wilson when I was in college, and he'd tell me, 'Whenever your time is up, we have something for you here.'

For Sumter High defensive coordinator Brian Wilson, who coached Gregg during his senior season with the Gamecocks, it was a no-brainer to bring in his former pupil.

"He was one of the guys that I knew always wanted to coach and would be a good coach, so this is something we've been talking about for probably two years now," the SHS defensive coordinator said. "Having the opportunity to bring a player back that's been through (head) Coach (Mark) Barnes' regimen of a program and understands the standard that it takes to not only play here, but play at the college level is phenomenal for the school, the football program and the community as a whole."

During the spring, Gregg was still fighting to keep his dream of being an NFL defensive back alive. He played in two senior bowls. The first was the FCS Bowl, in which he was named his team's defensive MVP. The second was the FBS Tropical Bowl, in which he had the chance to compete against Division I athletes.

He would go back and forth between different opportunities to show his skills to professional scouts. He missed some of the Gamecocks' summer activities to go to a United Football League combine in June, but he came right back to continue work with SHS.

"Coach Barnes was very supportive of Jordan's desire to still play, so we found a way to work around it," Wilson said. "When he was here, he was here. When he wasn't, he was working to achieve the goal he wanted to achieve, and I think that's something we wanted the kids to see. That even though he was done with college ball, that there were still opportunities out there and he was still trying to pursue his dream."

Gregg isn't shutting the door on a pro career yet, but he's also fully committed to helping Sumter High continue an excellent 2024 season. Through all of the trials and tribulations of trying to prove his skills to pro scouts, he's gaining more experience to feed right back into the current crop of Gamecock defensive backs.

"It was always a long shot, coming from a DII, but I do believe in the saying, 'If you're good enough, they'll find you,'" Gregg said. "I want to be that person here on the coaching staff that came from DII, was successful in college and had a chance to play in two senior bowls, and I'm playing against people that were at Alabama, Colorado, Kansas, and I came from a small DII college at UNC Pembroke."

Gregg was the perfect player to bring back into the program because of his experience as a Division II athlete. Most players aren't going to get the opportunity to suit up for a Power 5 program, but that doesn't mean they won't have a successful career after high school. Gregg wants to be that first-hand example for the current team.

"I think it's important because with me just freshly out of college, I can relate more with them. To be able to tell them that not everybody is going to go DI and just because you don't go to Division I doesn't mean you won't have success or make it to the NFL. If you're good enough, you're going to play," he said. "Me coming from the community, I can relate to them. I feel like a lot of them respect me. And outside of football, I try to be like a big brother to them and help them go to college and get out of Sumter."

Wilson and Gregg walked a similar path. Before Gregg made the jump from Sumter High to Division II football, Wilson did the same thing, suiting up for Presbyterian College after playing for Paul Sorrells with the Gamecocks. While Wilson only coached Gregg for a year, the two quickly bonded, which made the coaching reunion such a perfect fit.

"He made such an impact in that one year. I could tell the difference in my play between my junior year and my senior year. He made me a better corner, a better player and a better man in that one year he had me," Gregg said. "I always call him like a big brother. We have some type of the same story."

Sumter High is known for sending defensive talent to the next level. Gregg is part of a long line of defensive backs that have made the leap. Former teammates like O'Donnell Fortune and Abraham Temoney both took their talents to the Division I level at South Carolina and Coastal Carolina, respectively. Former all-state defensive back Zyeir Gamble is currently at Appalachian State. So many more former Gamecocks have played Division II ball like Gregg. He takes great pride in helping the next generation of SHS defensive backs follow in those footsteps.

"I'm glad that I'm here because I can speak on those guys because I played with those guys, whether it was in high school or trained with them in the summertime," Gregg said. "They can see if you come here, play DB, do what you're supposed to do and you show out, we'll get you to college, and the guys that do go to college have good, successful careers in college."

Wilson thought his protégé picked things up quickly because of the way he was able to connect with the players. While Gregg learned a ton about coaching from Wilson, the SHS defensive coordinator was quick to tell him that he didn't need to be a parrot.

"I told him he has to figure out what works for him," Wilson said. "What worked for me, worked for me and, of course, I'm going to have certain aspects I'm going to want, but I want to have him find his direction of how he wants his guys to look, shape, feel, move and those types of things. That's the challenge he's going to battle for a while. It took me a while to get a plan of how I wanted practice to run and drills I wanted to do.

"It's going to take time, but he's improving every day and he's a smart guy, he's a student of the game, so he's doing what he needs to do to be successful."

Gregg admitted that it was hard to switch out of player mode at first, but his experience as a player is a blessing. He knows the kinds of coaches he worked well with and carries some of those attributes with him.

"Learning each player, how they react to certain things, so you can talk to them in different ways because every player is different," Gregg said of what he's focused on as a coach. "I let them know when they're wrong, be honest with them and encourage them when things do go wrong. With me being in college, being in the footsteps where they want to follow, they listen because I've been where they want to be."

Gregg is working with a young defensive back group. While seniors like Terrence Burgess are anchors for the group, they also have a junior in Bryce Allen and a sophomore in Brian Wilson II, the son of the team's defensive coordinator. That youth can be a blessing and a curse for a new coach.

"The blessing is that it's a blank canvas, so he can mold them a lot easier, but the struggles of being young is they're going to make mistakes. Him being a young guy, that can be frustrating," Coach Wilson said. "But he understands that it's a process."

Coach Wilson is also glad there's a great buffer between himself and his son. He knows the sophomore DB is in good hands with Gregg.

"To have this guy in the room, especially with my son, I think is awesome. It takes a lot of stress off me," the DC said. "It allows my son to be a lot more free because I don't spend as much time with that group as I used to, so it's an awesome experience for him to grow, for them to grow and for me to grow. I'm a little older, and the game has changed since I've been out of it, so with him being able to bring in new techniques is awesome.

"(Gregg) is the nice guy, and I'm the bad guy," Coach Wilson added with a laugh. "He came in at the right time, as Brian was becoming a sophomore and starting. He has somebody who's young, who may see things similar to how he does and who is going to be hard and firm on him but not as hard as I am. I'm sometimes a little too hard on him because he's the coach's son."