Bobo, Shaw, Rocker among those staying at USC on Beamer’s first staff
Just like that, Shane Beamer’s first South Carolina football staff is mostly complete.
The school on Sunday announced seven assistant coaches who will be part of his 10-man staff, plus the retention of Connor Shaw in an off-field role. The official news confirmed the additions of special teams coordinator Pete Lembo and tight ends coach Erik Kimrey, and announced Will Friend as new offensive line coach.
The set of four coaches being retained in Mike Bobo, Des Kitchings, Mike Peterson and Tracy Rocker is a high number for a new staff. Beamer explained his thinking on that front in a school statement.
“After much thought and many conversations with the players on our team, I knew that Coach Bobo, Coach Kitchings, Coach Peterson and Coach Rocker would be excellent additions to this new staff and needed to stay here in Columbia,” Beamer said. “All four have had great coaching careers and have a knowledge of what it takes to compete in the Southeastern Conference. I would also like to thank Coach Bobo for taking the reigns as the interim head coach late this season. He did an outstanding job leading the team on and off the field.”
Their contracts are expected to be approved at a Jan. 4 USC board of trustees meeting.
All the returners were part of Will Muschamp’s final staff on a team that went 2-8 in a pandemic-altered season. Each coach oversees important current players, or has a notable tie to a recruit.
Kitchings works with Kevin Harris, the team’s best offensive player last season, and MarShawn Lloyd, arguably the best offensive talent the team has. (Lloyd is recovering from an ACL tear.) Rocker and Peterson work with the talent-rich defensive line that includes Jordan Burch, J.J. Enagbare, Tonka Hemingway, Rick Sandidge and Zacch Pickens.
Bobo worked closely with talented passer Luke Doty and is also one of the main ties to Class of 2022 five-star QB commitment Gunner Stockton.
Six assistants will depart from the Muschamp staff. Eric Wolford was already announced as Kentucky’s new offensive line coach. Kyle Krantz, Travaris Robinson and Joe Cox had indicated they’d be leaving. The State had previously learned linebackers coach Rod Wilson would not be retained, and Sunday’s announcement points to Bobby Bentley not being an on-field coach as well.
The batch of hires leaves three openings to fill four roles: wide receivers coach, defensive coordinator, inside linebackers coach and secondary coach.
Kimrey is a Gamecocks alum, a Columbia product who famously threw “The Fade” pass of South Carolina lore in a 2000 win over Mississippi State. He spent time as a grad assistant at USC and built a private high school football dynasty as Hammond coach. He coached USC blue-chip defensive linemen in Alex Huntley and Burch.
“He is the kind of person and coach who I want on our staff,” Beamer said in the announcement. “Not only does he have an astute offensive football mind, he connects well with his players and cares about their progress in every phase of their life. It’s extremely important to have former players on this staff and around this football program. We’re not done yet.”
Friend was Bobo’s offensive coordinator at Colorado State and goes back to his Georgia days. Friend spent the past three years on Jeremy Pruitt’s Tennessee staff.
“Will has had a history of developing excellent offensive linemen during his coaching career,” Beamer said in the statement. “He knows what it takes to compete in the SEC and brings a drive and energy that we want on our staff.”
Lembo built a strong head coaching resume before spending the past half-decade building strong special teams groups. He most recently worked at Memphis, with a top-flight unit in 2019. He is also going to be an associate head coach, and brings the ability to help take numerous smaller tasks off the plate of Beamer, who is a head coach for the first time.
Beamer described Lembo as having a high football IQ and praised his experience.
The retention of Shaw is crucial not only to have a seasoned presence around the program but also in keeping Stockton in the fold. The North Georgia phenom has played for Shaw’s brother and father and grew up idolizing the Gamecocks great.
Shaw was most recently the program’s director of player development and served as interim QBs coach under Bobo to end 2020.
“I am also excited to have Connor (Shaw) remain on our staff in a more expanded role on the football side of the things,” Beamer said in his statement. “He loves this school and this program. Connor is committed to helping our players succeed and reach their full potential.”
The set of coaches announced Sunday:
New coaches
Erik Kimrey - Tight ends coach
Pete Lembo - Special teams/associate had coach
Will Friend - Offensive line coach
Coaches being retained
Mike Bobo - Offensive coordinator
Des Kitchings - Running backs coach
Tracy Rocker - Defensive line coach
Mike Peterson - Outside linebacker coach
Off-field
Connor Shaw - Role to be determined
This story was originally published December 27, 2020 at 3:16 PM.
