Cory Boyd saw everything he needed to during his official visit with the South Carolina football team.

Wisconsin had the first crack at the 247Sports composite’s No. 50-ranked safety in the class of 2003. Boston College, Virginia and Virginia Tech were schedule to follow official No. 2 to South Carolina, but for Boyd, an Orange (N.J.) High School product, that visit to Columbia was “one of the best.”

Boyd, who committed to the Gamecocks as a running back, pulled the trigger just days after wrapping up his visit to Columbia.

“It didn’t really matter as much, football-wise, but we did want to make sure that it was a good school that would give me all the opportunities to be successful as a man,” Boyd said.

Mission: Accomplished.

From 2003-07, Boyd started 27 of the 46 games he played, finishing with 2,267 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. He also caught 117 passes for 1,303 yards and five scores.

Boyd was then selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the seventh-round of the 2008 NFL Draft, but his career in the league lasted for just one season. By 2010, Boyd was a member of the Canadian Football League, where he was a two-time all-star for the Toronto Argonauts.

It was during that time in Canada when Boyd started training for his next profession. He began coaching at the youth level, before working his way up to the middle school ranks at Kelly Mill in Blythewood, following his retirement in 2012.

Boyd worked for a little more than two years at Kelly Mill before he joined the staff at Blythewood High School in 2017. He’s currently in his first season as the running backs coach for Grey Collegiate Academy in West Columbia.

“With all the knowledge and experiences I was taking on, I knew what I love and that’s the game of football. I had to give back my knowledge,” Boyd said of his decision to get into coaching.

“Wherever I was going to be, I needed to be doing that. I needed to make a difference in other people’s lives with the game of football and it was already predestined for me to do what I’m already doing. I just had to be willing to follow those steps and enjoy the process.

“I’m still on that process. I’m 33. I’m still at the beginning stage of my coaching. I take my bumps, my bruises the same as a football player. But you’ve got to get back up. You’ve got to keep taking it one day, one play at a time.”

Fortunately, for Boyd, he learned from two of college football’s all-time greats – Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier. The two former Gamecock coaches certainly played a big part in Boyd’s development, but not just as a coach.

“The lessons and the knowledge that both men put on me definitely helped me become the man that I am today,” Boyd said. “When sitting in coach Lou Holtz’ office, just reminiscing and talking about his upbringing and what got him into coaching and why he is so passionate at his philosophies and the things that he believes in and how he coaches.

“I will never forget those times and also times sitting down with Spurrier, picking his brain about certain coverages and why defensive-minded coaches do certain things and why, as an offensive-minded guy, why we have an advantage. It was pretty good to be able to have that opportunity to be coached by both men, to see both sides of the fence and see what a winning attitude is from both individuals.”

Just as important, Boyd added, was the degree he received before his time at South Carolina was over.

“Being able to graduate from a prestigious college – not too many of my friends from where I from, can say they went to a Division I, Power 5 school and have graduated, so I take every moment that I had at South Carolina and really cherish every moment of it,” Boyd said.

Though he enjoys working under the lights on Friday nights, Boyd, like other highly successful people, does have long-term goals. First, he hopes to be an offensive coordinator. But a return to the college game is the ultimate dream.

“I know that I’ve got a great offensive mind. I’ve learned from some of the best. I’m not just a running backs coach,” Boyd said. “I flourish at that very well, if I can toot my own horn, but my major goal right now is to help the young kids to develop. I don’t want them to miss a step, because I missed a lot of steps on my journey.”

He added, “I just want to teach these young kids the proper way of playing this game and attacking this game, with the Mamba mentality – using Kobe (Bryant) – I just want to make sure that the kids are understanding what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, because this game (at) each level – it can take the love out of it, if you’re not really loving it the way it’s supposed to. … So I want them to learn from my experiences.”