Returning home: UGA freshman linebacker set for Columbia reunion against South Carolina

Spring Valley High School is nestled in the heart of Gamecock country. It stands only 17 miles and a short drive down Interstate 77 from the University of South Carolina.

But there’s been a buzz within the high school hallways for a Bulldog. Georgia freshman linebacker Channing Tindall, only three-plus months after enrolling with the program, is expected to be on the Bulldogs’ travel roster for Saturday’s conference opener against South Carolina.

Tindall is coming home where his reputation was built. Well, for a weekend.

“I’ve gotten a lot of calls from people asking me about tickets,” said Spring Valley assistant head coach and inside linebackers coach Mitch Moton, who coached Tindall for three years. “I’m like, ‘I’m trying to scalp some for myself.’ ”

Spring Valley has the fortune of being home to some premier Division I athletes. One of which includes Christian Miller, a starting linebacker at Alabama. Yet, this reunion is special.

Tindall had his family in attendance for his first appearance in Athens, but another heap of supporters may make the short drive to Williams-Brice Stadium.

“I think it’s special anytime you go back home and get to play in front of your hometown and your family,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “And that’s a special moment for him.”

Due to Georgia’s roster being scattered with players from around the Southeast, it has the opportunity to grant players a couple of hometown returns. The neutral-site game against Florida will allow offensive lineman Solomon Kindley and cornerback Ameer Speed to play in front of their hometown folks.

“It feels good, like I’m playing in my backyard,” Kindley said. “I’m like five minutes away from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ stadium. All of my family and friends come out and see me play. It feels really good.”

While that opportunity will occur yearly, Tindall’s situation is unique as his return is a true road game for Georgia.

Tindall had a significant influence on the Spring Valley community as both a football player and a track star for the Vikings. His name started to spread as a freshman, when he started playing varsity as a defensive end, in the Columbia suburb.

By the time Tindall’s high school days were said-and-done, he was on the national stage as an Army All-American.

“He became an attention grabber,” Moton said. “We knew he was going to be special and kept flourishing. He was one of our hardest workers in the weight room and had a thirst for knowledge. It came natural to him.”

As his on-field play started to progress so did his recruitment and the number of looks from college coaches. Being from Columbia, South Carolina was a viable option, and he was a leading candidate for a significant period of time.

Tindall didn’t have an allegiance to the Gamecocks growing up but was solely a fan of the collegiate game. He, Moton and his parents, Edward and Yoshiko Dimes, were on the same page with an approach to his recruitment. There was no pressure about staying in South Carolina and no given direction on where to sign a national letter-of-intent.

Instead, it was about being thorough in research and doing his “due diligence,” in the words of Moton.

“I told him to start a spreadsheet,” he said. “(Channing) would write all of the schools that made contact, the coaches responsible for the recruitment, how many times they contacted and the depth chart. Everything. I was never going to be that coach who said, ‘I like this school over this one.’ He’s the one who has to go there for four years.”

After the work was done, Smart and the Bulldogs won the recruiting battle during the early signing period on Dec. 20, 2017. His commitment came late in the evening after Georgia already had bolstered the would-be top 2018 recruiting class.

Smart had signed a number of out-of-state prospects for the recruiting cycle, but this one was a tad more significant. He had gone into the territory of his good friend and South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp to add yet another four-star prospect.

Tindall’s parents declined comment to The Telegraph for this story. Tindall, due to Georgia’s media policy, was also unavailable to comment.

“His recruitment was a long process. He handled it the right way,” Smart said. “He communicated throughout. He took a lot of visits. But I think a lot of him as a kid. His family is a great family. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them, recruiting them in Columbia.”

Early in his playing career, Tindall already has seen opportunity. He started on special teams for the Bulldogs in their season-opening win over Austin Peay and continues to work within Glenn Schumann’s inside linebacker group to increase his playing opportunity.

Smart called Tindall “exciting” and added other talent-based monikers to indicate Georgia’s hope for him. The word also describes the feeling of those who will make the trip from Spring Valley and temper their garnet-and-black fandom for a few hours.

If they can find tickets.

“Channing is one of the best people I’ve had the opportunity to coach,” Moton said. “I bet he will have a lot of support Saturday.”