Kiel Pollard’s days of playing football are over, but that doesn’t mean his time with the South Carolina football program is. One day after announcing his decision to stop playing the game after medical examinations revealed a cyst on his spinal cord, Pollard’s head coach was happy to report the soon-to-be-graduate will remain with the team this season.

“Kiel is going to graduate in December and wants to get into coaching. I’m not sure if he wants to be a high school coach or college coach, but he’ll be successful in whatever he does,” Will Muschamp said on Saturday afternoon. “He’s extremely bright and relates well with anybody he meets. He has that certain skill with people. He’s going to be a part of our staff this fall.”

Muschamp went on to say the Gamecocks sought out two opinions from neurologists in Atlanta and Charlotte before Pollard came to terms with the end to his playing career. The original injury was a fracture in his neck that typically requires a 4-6 week recovery and rehabilitation process. Pollard said the injury occurred when he ducked his head in a preseason practice.

The veteran tight end has handled the unfortunate situation as well as possible, in Muschamp’s opinion.

“It’s a message for our guys. This guy has handled his business the right way. He’s graduating and getting a education while he’s here. I think our guys understood that,” Muschamp said. “Unfortunately in our game we all have expiration dates. Probably one percent of us that play football it ends on your terms. It’s too soon for Kiel, but we love him. He’s going to have some tough times this fall, but we’ll support him.”

Pollard's Friday afternoon announcement via Instagram | Muschamp updates injury report following Saturday scrimmage

In his senior season Pollard was in line to play a big role on the Gamecocks offense and continue being one of the team’s better special teams players. He played in 38 games over the last three seasons with seven receptions for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Perhaps the highlight play of his offensive career with the Gamecocks was a 67-yard touchdown against Clemson in 2018. Pollard was a three-star wide receiver from Moultrie Ga. (Colquitt County) and a member of the 2016 signing class, the first for Muschamp at South Carolina.

“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him. He had really good freshman and sophomore year and kind of broke out in the latter part of his junior season,” Muschamp said. “He was in the best condition he’s been in since he’s been here, primed to have a great senior year and continue to play after college, in my opinion. It’s a very unfortunate situation.”

According to Pollard’s player profile page on GamecocksOnline.com, he is a interdisciplinary studies major.