Reports: Former South Carolina line coach lands on Lane Kiffin’s staff
South Carolina football made a change this offseason, firing defensive line coach Lance Thompson and replacing him with John Scott Jr.
It appears Thompson has found a landing spot.
FootballScoop and the Palm Beach Post reported Thompson will join Lane Kiffin’s FAU squad. He coached for Kiffin during his lone season at Tennessee, and then stayed on for a few more years.
It is not clear who he will replace on the Owls staff.
Thompson came to Columbia with Will Muschamp from Auburn. He had coached across the SEC, notably for Nick Saban at Alabama and LSU. He had also coached linebackers at points in his career.
Thompson came to USC with a reputation as a top-flight recruiter, having been a key part of Alabama getting Julio Jones, Da’Shawn Hand and Jonathan Allen. He and USC’s staff missed out on most of the state’s highly-rated 2018 defensive line class, but the Gamecocks have brought in five blue chip linemen in the past few cycles.
His line’s were up and down through three seasons. The 2016 group wasn’t very deep and struggled against the run, but the 2017 line developed nicely, led by Taylor Stallworth and Javon Kinlaw. The group had a good deal coming back for 2018, but it struggled early and was then taken apart by injuries.
The Gamecocks and Scott will open spring practice in less than a month with a group that includes starters in Kobe Smith and Kinlaw, plus sophomore former four-stars Rick Sandidge, Josh Belk and Kingsley Enagbare, and early enrollees Zacch Pickens (five stars) and Joseph Anderson (four stars).
This story was originally published February 7, 2019 at 1:35 PM.
