There is a degree of unknown in the offensive coordinator of the South Carolina Gamecocks Marcus Satterfield.
For the past 10 years, he has worked as an offensive coordinator at Chattanooga and Temple, was a head coach at Tennessee Tech, trained tight end at Baylor and most recently served as an assistant offensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers. Like many coaches, Satterfield is widely traveled, with experience in four other schools: Tennessee, Richmond, Western Carolina and UT-Martin.
“I’m going to bring a lot of energy, a lot of positive energy,” he said. “I will invest in children. I had to train the offensive line last year in Carolina, so I trained all the positions on the field, in the attack. I think I bring a lot of flexibility from that point of view.
“I want people to know that we are going to play an exciting football brand, that we are going to have a lot of energy. Children, when they come to campus to see our offensive team and as our offense, what brand we put there, when they come to practice with us, when they can return to campus, it will be something that they will want to be a part of.
Satterfield added: “As far as I am going to invest in this, I think South Carolina Gamecock fans will be proud of the product that is in the field.”
In 2002 and 2003, he and the South Carolina coach Shane Beamer they were graduate assistants in Tennessee.
“I was a little crazy, I’m sure I still am,” said Satterfield. “Shane has always been the same, you could say that Shane was built to be a head coach, being close to his father. He always kept me in check, kept me out of trouble when we were GAs, and made sure I stayed straight. The coolest thing I think about Shane is that he probably got me jobs all my life, since we worked together. He made calls, reached out to people to help with my career.
“One thing I’ve always said about Shane is how hard he works and sometimes having a surname like Beamer opens doors for me. I think he really works very, very hard (e) that he got everything he got, not because his surname is Beamer, but because he is a great football coach, a constant football coach who works hard at everything does . It’s good that he had this opportunity and that we can do it together. “
The process of bringing Satterfield to South Carolina was not the traditional route. Beamer Retained Mike Bobo as offensive coordinator and Satterfield was set to take over as quarterback coach for the Panthers.
So Bobo left for Auburn.
“We talked a few times when (Beamer) got the job,” said Satterfield. “I was really excited for him. I was perfectly satisfied in the NFL, doing what I was doing. I was telling him, I’m not calling you for a job, I’m just calling to congratulate you. We talked other times, just about people, people he was thinking of hiring, I knew them, which would be a good direction for him to enter, so we kept talking and kept talking.
“Certain situations happened when some guys left and that opened a door for me to enter here, where I am today. I think it’s just – I was a guy he trusted. I could do the job. Seriously, I don’t even think it was planned, it just kind of happened through conversations in the past few weeks.
“But there was never any conversation anywhere, ‘Hey, Shane, I think you should hire me as your coordinator.’ It was just one of those things, time happens for a reason and I’m here. “