Vicari Swain

2025 Third-Team All-America (PR) (Phil Steele)
2025 Third-Team All-SEC (RS) (Coaches)
2025 Second-Team All-SEC (PR) (Phil Steele)
2025 First-Team All-SEC (RS) (Sports Info Solutions)
2025 Third-Team All-SEC (PFSN)
2025 co-Jim Carlen MVP Special Teams
2023 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll

Defensive back and elite punt returner who has spent three years in the program… has appeared in 28 games with three starts over the past three seasons… owns 43 career tackles with a pair of interceptions and six pass breakups… ranks second in school history with three career punt returns for touchdowns, just one behind the record set by Dick Harris (1969-71).

2025 (Redshirt Sophomore)
Played in all 12 games… worked at cornerback on defense and as a punt returner on special teams… started against South Carolina State, Missouri and Kentucky… earned post-season All-SEC honors as a return specialist from the league’s 16 coaches (3rd team), Phil Steele (2nd team), Sports Info Solutions (1st team) and PFSN (3rd team)… Steele also placed him on his third-team All-America squad… burst onto the scene in the opener when he went 80 yards for a touchdown in the win over Virginia Tech, earning SEC co-Special Teams Player of the Week honors… returned both of his punts for scores the following week against South Carolina State, scoring from 65- and 42-yards out, earning co-SEC Special Teams Player of the Week accolades for a second-straight time to open the season… was a mid-season first-team All-America returner according to CBS Sports, Athlon and PFF and was a second-team choice by Sports Illustrated… finished the season with 19 returns for 302 yards, a 15.9-yard average, with three scores, tying the school’s single-season record… was one of only two FBS players to return three punts for TDs in 2025, joining Iowa’s Kaden Wetjen… his punt return average ranked third in the SEC and seventh in the country… his 302 punt return yards were the most by a Gamecock since Ace Sanders’s school record 429 in 2012… posted 28 tackles including 24 solo stops… had one sack, two interceptions, five pass breakups and two forced fumbles… posted a career-high 10 tackles at Missouri… both interceptions came at Texas A&M off Marcel Reed… posted a strip sack against Alabama, a game in which he served as a team captain.

2024 (Redshirt Freshman)
Reserve cornerback who saw action in all 13 games… credited with 13 tackles including 11 solo stops… had 1.0 sack, one pass breakup, one forced fumble and and one quarterback hurry… best game came at Kentucky when he logged a career-high three tackles including a 12-yard sack and a forced fumble in the win… credited with two stops each at Alabama, versus Missouri and against Illinois.

2023 (Freshman)
True freshman defensive back… saw brief action in each of the first three games of the season, then did not appear again… credited with a pair of tackles, both coming in the win over Furman… redshirted… named to the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.

HIGH SCHOOL
Defensive back who played at Central High School in Carrollton, Ga… racked up nearly 2,000 receiving yards and 17 career touchdown receptions with 13 interceptions over his prep career…  coached by Darius Smiley… scored 10 total TDs as a senior for the Trojans in 2022 with seven receiving, two interception returns, and one kickoff return… caught 41 passes for 660 yards, credited with 43 tackles, six interceptions, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and two kick blocks… played a major role in Carrollton Central’s 8-4 campaign and Georgia 4A second-round playoff appearance… named the 2021 Region 7-AAAA Athlete of the Year… got snaps on both sides of the ball for a Carrollton (Ga.) Central squad that went 5-6… caught 47 passes for 855 yards and eight touchdowns, credited with 28 tackles and six interceptions (three returned for touchdowns)… played in all three phases as a sophomore in 2020… posted 10 catches for 212 yards with two touchdowns and had one interception… also plays baseball. 

PERSONAL
Vicari S. Swain was born Sept. 12, 2004… is a public health major.