It’s official: South Carolina adds football assistant coach with long SEC history
South Carolina football officially has its new defensive line coach, and it’s someone with a long history in the SEC.
The university board of trustees approved Tracy Rocker, last a Tennessee Volunteer, to replace John Scott Jr., who departed after one season for a job at Penn State. He will get a two-year contract and be paid $525,000 annually.
Gamecocks Athletics Director Ray Tanner said the school will likely add another coach to fill the final opening on staff within a week. Spring practice starts Feb. 26.
The school also announced the addition of Drew Hughes as director of player personnel.
“Tracy has great experience playing and coaching in the Southeastern Conference,” Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said in a statement. “I’ve tried to hire him before and am glad we were finally able to get him to Columbia and be a Gamecock. He’s had great success in this league in developing defensive linemen and has coached a lot of guys who have played in the NFL, which is the goal for many of our players.”
Rocker’s contract buyout will be $100,000 in Year 1 and $50,000 in Year 2. He is getting paid $20,000 more than he got last year at Tennessee and earning $90,000 more than Scott did last season.
“Once John Scott left, (Muschamp) had some dialogue with some coaches and we were fortunate to get a coach with the experience of Tracy Rocker on our staff,” Tanner said. “Thought it’s a great hire.”
The Gamecocks still have one open position after running backs coach Thomas Brown joined the staff of the Los Angeles Rams. There also are reports linking wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon to an opening with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but there has been no final word there.
Rocker is a longtime veteran of the SEC, having coached at Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss since 2003 (he also had a three-year stint with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans). He played his college ball at Auburn and won the Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy as a senior before a brief NFL career with Washington.
Rocker was a member of 2010 Auburn staff, which helped the Tigers to a national title, and he worked with eventual top-15 pick Nick Fairley.
Rocker will be the team’s third defensive line coach in as many years. Scott was only in Columbia for a single season after replacing Lance Thompson.
One lighter moment in the meeting came when Trustee Rose Buyck Newton of Bluffton wanted a little more clarity on what qualified as “cause” if a coach was fired.
“So cause would not be if every SEC team we play runs for 400 yards against us?” she asked. “I really struggle with the language in these contracts that we’re required to pay their contracts if they’re not performing.”
The example she posed would not be considered cause in the language of the contract.
This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 10:38 AM.
