Five things to know about South Carolina’s newest assistant, Jimmy Lindsey
South Carolina football made things official Sunday with Jimmy Lindsey, announcing his hiring to coach the Gamecocks defensive line. Here are five things to know about the newest member of Shane Beamer’s staff.
1. Carolinas born and bred
Lindsey coming to the Gamecocks is a homecoming of sorts — like his fellow assistants Justin Stepp, Erik Kimrey and Des Kitchings, he was born in the Palmetto State. And like defensive coordinator Clayton White, he grew up just the road in North Carolina. Lindsey was born in Cheraw and lists Morven, North Carolina, as his hometown. He’s also coached in South Carolina before, working for four years at Furman, from 2012 to 2015.
“I love that he has ties to the Carolinas — born in South Carolina and raised in North Carolina — and has coached and recruited in this region as well,” Beamer said in a statement announcing his hiring.
2. Ties to both coordinators
Lindsey comes to South Carolina recommended by new defensive coordinator Clayton White. The two worked together at Western Kentucky from 2017 to 2019, with Lindsey starting as the defensive line coach before moving to defensive ends and adding recruiting coordinator to his responsibilities in the final two seasons.
But it’s not just White who Lindsey has worked with before — he played his college ball and got started in coaching at Chattanooga around the same time new Carolina offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield was with the Mocs, too. In 1999, Satterfield’s first season as a graduate assistant, Lindsey was a senior linebacker and team captain. The two were then both assistants in the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
And both returned to Chattanooga nearly a decade later, overlapping during the 2010 and 2011 seasons when Satterfield was offensive coordinator and Lindsey was coaching defensive line and special teams.
3. One game of coordinator experience
While Lindsey has spent virtually all of his 20-plus years as a coach overseeing defensive lines, he did get a call-up to oversee the entire defense late in 2020. Working at Illinois, Lindsey had to step into the defensive coordinator role for the final game of the season when head coach Lovie Smith was fired.
“That’s what I’m going to be,” Lindsey told the Herald & Review before the game. “I’m going to be myself. I’m going to be genuine. There will be no fakeness, so to speak. I’ll be myself and be demanding of the kids and ask them to do things for us at a high level.”
The game itself didn’t go so well, with the Fighting Illini falling to Penn State 56-21.
4. Around the NFL
While the Illinois job marked Lindsey’s first gig at a Power 5 program, he has been around the pros plenty over the course of his career. From 2006 to 2013, he participated in the NFL’s minority coaching internship program four times, working with the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers.
5. Defensive staff assignments
Lindsey was hired to replace Tracy Rocker, who left the Gamecocks to head back to his alma mater Auburn, joining several other former Gamecock coaches in heading to The Plains this offseason.
And now with Lindsey officially in place, the structure of Beamer’s defensive staff has fallen back into place — he will coach defensive line, while Mike Peterson will coach outside linebackers and defensive ends. Defensive coordinator Clayton White will be responsible for inside linebackers, while Torrian Gray will handle the defensive backs.
All four of South Carolina’s defensive assistants played college football, and three of them played in the NFL.
This story was originally published January 17, 2021 at 3:50 PM.
