KeShawn Toney needed to become his own man.
The Williston, South Carolina, native -- Williston is about an hour away from Columbia, home of the Gamecocks -- followed his family's advice and committed to the local Southeastern Conference program in the March of his junior year, signing in the winter and joining the program in January of 2019.
But, he later admitted, it wasn't his decision as much as, he felt, it was for the others around him. At USC he wasn't happy, so he put his name in the transfer portal and wound up at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where the 6-foot-2, 237-pound former three-star tight end prospect has found a home while also finding himself.
"When I left South Carolina, I just felt like I needed the change of scenery," Toney said. "When I came out of high school, I feel like I made all my decisions for other people instead of me. My family, basically the whole little small town where I came from is South Carolina fans, so I feel like I had to do it for everybody else, but when I came here things were different.
"Coach (Rusty) Wright made me get the love back for football. The players, the family -- it's a tight family. The camaraderie we've got, just the way he coaches -- he coaches you tough -- but he also coaches you with love. That's the feeling I had and I feel like I was missing that when I got here. He instantly brought it back and I'm loving it here, and I plan on being here as long as I can, before whatever the future holds."
Asked what Wright told him, Toney simply said, "Just be for you."
And he's done just that. Toney has produced since joining the program, gaining 171 yards on 13 grabs with a pair of scores, both coming against Western Carolina last fall. But the tight end position at UTC requires a lot of blocking in addition to receiving, which is something both Toney and junior Jay Gibson provide.
"Keshawn is a huge, big, athletic guy that can run and catch the football," Wright said. "He's gotten much better at blocking in the last couple of weeks in the games, and he's got to continue to do that and be a factor for us, because we don't need to be changing guys out to do certain things. We've got to be able to leave them in there and do everything, but he's taken on a bigger role for us.
"Both those tight ends have taken on bigger roles in this offense, and that'll help us if we can do more things with those guys in the game."
That's in part due to the growth of Toney, who is no longer the same person he was when he arrived.
"Just mentally, I've grown," he said. "As far as football-wise, I feel I'm a lot smarter. Physically, in the weight room because of (strength coach Gerry) Pacitti, I'm a lot stronger. And Coach (Jacob) Huesman does a great job watching film with us, breaking things down to the details -- they preach details here. As far as off the field, I just feel more spiritually with God, just praying and trying to be positive all the time instead of being negative and getting in my head.
"I just feel like I've grown up a lot since I got here."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.