Gamecocks assistant, former coordinator not leaving for NFL job he was linked to
South Carolina’s football coaching staff has seen a lot of change this offseason, but one notable face appears to be sticking around.
Former offensive coordinator and current receivers coach Bryan McClendon was reportedly in the running for the vacant wide receivers coach job with the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, but that job went to Ike Hilliard the team announced Tuesday.
That leaves South Carolina with one open coaching spot and a full set of five coaches on offense.
South Carolina officially hired defensive line coach Tracy Rocker on Friday to replace John Scott Jr., who departed for Penn State, and Ray Tanner said the school plans to fill its last staff opening within a week. Reports from Gamecock Central and The Big Spur linked that opening to former Gamecock Rod Wilson, a USC product and special teams assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Running backs coach Thomas Brown took an NFL job with the Los Angeles Rams. With him gone and McClendon back, the team has options at running backs coach as both assistant quarterbacks coach Bobby Bentley and McClendon have both coached running backs. Bentley went from running backs from 2016-2018 to tight ends last season and ended up in the role with QBs after Joe Cox joined the staff.
McClendon took over as USC’s offensive coordinator after calling plays during the Gamecocks’ Outback Bowl win following the 2017 season. He and Muschamp promised an aggressive, up-tempo offense, and in 2018, the offense did put up its best numbers ever under Muschamp. But quarterback Jake Bentley struggled with interceptions, the ground game produced the third-fewest yards per game in the SEC and the team ended the year in a rut, not scoring in the final six quarters of the season.
Those offensive struggles continued into 2019, starting with a stunning loss to UNC and compounded by the loss of Bentley to injury. From there, the Gamecock attack labored through a difficult season, finishing the year ranked 104th in the country in scoring offense and 98th in SP+ ratings from ESPN. Freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski started strong but struggled more and more as the season progressed.
Prior to his tenure at OC, McClendon had been on South Carolina’s staff for two seasons as co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. Before that, he coached at Georgia, where he also played as an undergrad, working for the Bulldogs as wide receivers coach, running backs coach, passing game coordinator, recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach in various seasons, as well as interim head coach for the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl.
McClendon earned a $1 million salary in 2019, making him one of the highest-paid offensive coordinators in the country, according to USA Today’s database.
Muschamp’s coaching staff has undergone a major shakeup this offseason — at the same time McClendon was demoted, quarterbacks coach Dan Werner and strength and conditioning coach Jeff Dillman were let go.
To replace McClendon and Werner, Muschamp hired former Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo to serve as OC and QB coach. He also got Ole Miss strength coach Paul Jackson to take Dillman’s place.
One of Bobo’s assistants at Colorado, former Georgia quarterback Joe Cox, followed him back East and took over as the Gamecocks’ tight end coach, and as a result, offensive assistant Bobby Bentley was shifted to the quarterbacks room while defensive assistant Kyle Krantz was pushed into an off-field role.
Then special teams coordinator and linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler left to become co-defensive coordinator at Texas, and Krantz was re-promoted to coach special teams and assist defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson in the secondary.
All told, 40 percent of South Carolina’s 10-man assistant coaching staff from 2019 will now be gone in 2020.
