Gamecocks’ new South Carolina coach, Shane Beamer, is starting to rally his team, announcing a series of hires over the weekend – with at least one that can raise an eyebrow or two.
Current offensive coordinator / defender coach Mike Bobo will be hired, along with a few other remaining players: running back coach Des Kitchings, defensive line coach Tracy Rocker and lineback coach Mike Peterson. Program legend Connor Shaw, who spent time training defenders last season, will also be on the team in an off-field role yet to be announced.
Among the newcomers to the program are offensive line coach Will Friend (former Tennessee and Bobo’s associate), hard-headed coach Erik Kimrey (another Gamecock legend who is making the leap after a college coaching career incredibly successful in Hammond) and associate chief coach / special team coordinator Pete Lembo (ex-Memphis).
This leaves Beamer three places to fill, with the most urgent being the defensive coordinator. Athletic reported that former Vanderbilt boss Derek Mason is competing, which for my money would be a very exciting signing.
As for the hires that have already been made, I admit that I was not impressed. I think a lot of fans would have preferred a thorough cleaning of the house after the Will Muschamp era, and keeping Bobo in particular is not a move that will fire anyone. There is an argument to be made that Bobo simply didn’t have the pieces to succeed in 2020 (particularly with the receiving body being what it was), but there are also reasons to criticize how the quarterback’s situation was handled, for example. This looks a bit like Muschamp keeping Kurt Roper close to me (although I obviously hope I’m wrong). One of the advantages of hiring Beamer should be how cheap he was, which would allow South Carolina to break the bank for home run coordinators. This assumption does not appear to be holding up at the moment, but I suppose that financial considerations are definitely a motivating factor behind the retention of four assistants.
How are you feeling about the team so far?