Conway’s Edwards draws hefty praise from coach Jordan

Bryan Edwards verbally committed to South Carolina and took part in one of the most elite offseason football camps in the country in the past six months.

After his eye-popping performance in the CNB Kickoff Classic on Friday, the Conway receiver was being compared to the two best players his coach has ever seen at the high school level.

“I haven’t seen many kids who can do what that kid can do,” Tigers coach Chuck Jordan said. “I’ve seen two kids over the years who have made me say ‘Wow.’ One was A.J. Green. The other was [Albert Haynesworth]. Those two stand out as ‘Golly.’ Bryan does that same thing to you. He really does.”

Green, who played at Summerville before going to the University of Georgia and now the Cincinnati Bengals, had some huge performances against Conway. Haynesworth did the same at Hartsville before attending the University of Tennessee and becoming a first-round draft pick and eventual all-pro selection.

Edwards, Jordan said, is worthy of the praise.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound receiver brought fans of several schools to their feet Friday against North Myrtle Beach when he took a short pass and broke free for a 78-yard touchdown. Earlier in the scrimmage, he took another Peyton Derrick pass for 50 yards.

The broken tackles were matched on the impressiveness scale by his breakaway speed.

“We like him inside because he’s so strong and such a good blocker,” Jordan said. “But then we’ll bump him outside and we’ve got some things we like to do with him.

“If we can get him just a little bit of space, what you don’t understand about Bryan is how fast he is. He may be 210 pounds, but he’s gonna be the fastest player on the field every Friday night.

“You see a kid his size, and you don’t expect him to be as fast as he is. Bryan can fly.”

Jordan also said that the school is working with Edwards to ensure he can finish up his required coursework this fall in order to give him the option of graduating early from high school and enrolling early at USC.

“We want Bryan to be able to do what he wants to do,” Jordan said.

This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Conway’s Edwards draws hefty praise from coach Jordan."