South Carolina football hired its next WR coach.
Shane Beamer’s new offensive team is now complete after hiring wide receiver coach Justin Stepp. Stepp, who has been in the same role in Arkansas for the past three seasons, joins Mike Bobo, Des Kitchings, Erik Kimrey and Will Friend on that side of the ball.
Stepp is considered one of the best wideout coaches in the country, which hopefully will give a boost to a very unproductive reception room in Columbia. Last season, South Carolina’s wide receivers managed 97 passes for 1,033 yards and six scores. Senior and senior receiver Shi Smith accounted for about 60% of that production alone, recording 633 yards and four of the six touchdown receptions.
Stepp will be tasked with training a very young group that is looking for its biggest threat in 2021. Veterans Josh Vann and Jalen Brooks are expected to be back after showing glimpses of potential. OrTre Smith and Randrecous Davis may also return after being out of the 2020 season.
Out of these four players, the room consists of three freshmen (Powers, Caldwell, Wyman), sophomores Xavier Legette and Dakereon Joyner, who are still new to the position, and a handful of new recruits.
Stepp had a little help over the weekend, when the Gamecocks got an appointment with Georgia Tech protractor Ahmarean Brown, who managed 33 receptions for 619 yards and eight touchdowns with the Yellow Jackets. He could become a type of instant impact player with great game potential. Brown averaged 18 yards per catch in Atlanta.
Stepp was a member of some very talented reception bodies, having coached teams in Appalachian State, SMU and Arkansas. In that time, he oversaw the progression of bad guys like Trey Quinn, Courtland Sutton, Treylon Burks and Sean Price.
Quinn and Sutton were both All-Americans and eventual NFL draft picks, Burks led the Razorbacks at the reception for each of the past two seasons, and Price set an NCAA FCS freshman record with 81 passes and 1,196 yards in 2012.
Stepp is also expected to help on the recruitment front, having secured appointments from five four-star candidates, according to 247 Sports.
He will try to continue the recruitment success by traveling back to his home state of South Carolina. Stepp was born in Columbia and threw his college ball at Furman. He was a wideout trainer in North Greenville and was a graduate assistant at Clemson, so he is familiar with the area and the program.
Stepp will have a lot of work to reverse an attack that ranked 104th in the country last year (187 ypg), but as bad as the position group was, the closet is not as empty as it looks. OrTre Smith, Josh Vann and Dakereon Joyner were considered four-star players who left college. Randrecous Davis has been extremely productive in the field, but he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Jalen Brooks and Ahmarean Brown were conference talents at previous stops.
Hopefully, Stepp will be able to maximize production, revitalize and receive a body that was lacking in action last year.