New contracts, raises give Beamer’s USC staff its first $1 million assistant coach
Six South Carolina football staffers are cashing in on the Gamecocks’ 7-6 debut season under head coach Shane Beamer.
Defensive coordinator Clayton White — who saw his salary bumped from $900,000 to $1.1 million — special teams coordinator Pete Lembo, running backs coach Montario Hardesty, receivers coach Justin Stepp, defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey and head strength and conditioning coach Luke Day had one-year extensions and raises approved by the USC board of trustees Friday.
The new deals are as follows, with annual salaries listed:
- Clayton White (DC) — From $900,000 to $1.1 million
- Justin Stepp (WRs) — From $460,000 to $475,000 (Year 1) and $525,000 (Year 2)
- Pete Lembo (ST) — From $450,000 to $465,000
- Jimmy Lindsey (DL) — From $350,000 to $375,000
- Montario Hardesty (RBs) — From $300,000 to $350,000
- Luke Day (Strength and Conditioning) — From $400,000 to $425,000
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield, offensive line coach Greg Adkins and defensive backs coach Torrian Gray were the only on-field assistant coaches who did not have their contracts adjusted Friday.
Satterfield and Adkins head into 2022 with one year remaining on their deals that will pay salaries of $900,000 and $550,000, respectively. Gray is entering the second year of a three-year agreement that had a built-in raise from $350,000 to $475,000.
Under Will Muschamp, coordinators Mike Bobo and Travaris Robinson each made $1.2 million per year, while Bryan McClendon was at $1 million a year in his last deal with USC.
The contracts approved Friday also included a handful of specific measures related to White, Stepp, Lembo and Hardesty.
White will not be required to pay a buyout if he takes a job as a Division I head coach, NFL head coach or NFL coordinator. That’s a carry-over from his first contract with USC.
Stepp’s new deal eliminated a clause that would have made him pay 50% of his buyout South Carolina paid Arkansas when he was hired last year should he terminate the deal before Dec. 31, 2022 due to an increase in the buyout of the overall contract.
Contracts for Stepp and Lembo also included a provision that will not require either to pay a buyout should they accept a new job as a college head coach, a college offensive or defensive coordinator with primary play-calling duties or an NFL head coach or coordinator. This clause was included in Lembo’s previous deal, but was a new addition to Stepp’s contract.
Hardesty’s new deal eliminated a provision that would have doubled his buyout should he have accepted a job at another Southeastern Conference school. This was changed as his contract amendment passed Friday increased his buyout obligation to South Carolina.
South Carolina paid $4.88 million in assistant coaching salaries in 2021, according to a report from the Knoxville News Sentinel on Monday. That ranked USC 12th out of the 13 public schools in the Southeastern Conference. Mississippi State was the lone school that spent less on assistant coaches last year at $4.83 million.
USC’s spending ranked slightly less than Missouri ($4.89 million), Ole Miss ($5.03 million), Arkansas ($5.13 million) and Kentucky ($5.45 million), per the report.
The South Carolina board of trustees already approved a two-year deal that will pay $350,000 annually for Jacksonville Jaguars assistant coach Sterling Lucas last month. Lucas replaces outside linebackers/defensive ends coach Mike Peterson, who left USC to coach outside linebackers at Florida.
Tight ends coach Jody Wright also had a two-year contract approved by the South Carolina board of trustees on Friday. Wright — who will rake over for longtime Hammond School coach and former USC quarterback Erik Kimrey — will be paid $350,000 in Year 1 of the deal and $400,000 in Year 2.
The raises for Beamer’s staff come after South Carolina finished the 2021 season with a 38-21 romp of North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Dec. 30.
Beamer became just the second head coach in school history to win a bowl game in his first season as head coach in Columbia.
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 2:10 PM.
