What Marcus Satterfield learned from South Carolina’s offensive issues in 2021
Marcus Satterfield is the first to concede Year 1 wasn’t good enough.
South Carolina’s second-year offensive coordinator heard the skeptics. He’s keenly aware factions of the fan base wanted him fired. He knows finishing 13th in the Southeastern Conference in passing offense won’t cut it.
But for all the cynicism directed his way, Satterfield owned what he has learned from the last year on Wednesday. He pointed to communication, patience and being open to other ways of doing things as the biggest lessons.
The hope is that recognition will translate to more offensive success in 2022.
“I don’t love (the criticism), but I also understand the responsibility of being in charge of an offense in the SEC,” Satterfield said. “That’s what I love about fans is I would hate to work in a place where they really could care less and they’re just waiting to get to basketball seasons.”
Right or wrong, Satterfield evolved into public enemy No. 1 for South Carolina fans over the better part of the past six months. The Gamecocks offense slogged through much of the 2022 campaign, finishing 11th in the SEC in rushing and 13th in total offense. A revolving door at quarterback didn’t help the cause. Nor did an offensive line that graded among the league’s worst, per Pro Football Focus.
Head coach Shane Beamer was asked incessantly whether he might consider taking away play-calling duties from Satterfield. Shortly after a 30-0 loss to Clemson, he was even queried if he anticipated any staff changes in the weeks to follow.
Beamer defended his oft-maligned offensive coordinator time and time again. The Gamecocks responded with an offensive annihilation of North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Dec. 30.
“Credit to our offensive staff,” Beamer said after the 38-21 win. “All I’ve heard for a month is how awful they are and what am I doing not firing people and things like that. Well, I hope that’s a great answer for you right there.”
South Carolina should be, on paper, a vastly improved offense under Satterfield’s watch this fall. For one, the bar to clear is low after last season’s wayward effort. More pressing, though, the Gamecocks have revamped the unit that held them back in Beamer’s fist season in Columbia.
Former Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler remains the crown jewel of a transfer class that was ranked No. 6 nationally, per 247Sports. The one-time Sooner began the 2021 season as a Heisman front-runner before being replaced by five-star freshman Caleb Williams. A transfer to South Carolina followed, at least in part because of how Satterfield’s system can help Rattler reach the NFL, given its pro-style schematics.
Reporters received their first look at Rattler in-person on Tuesday — albeit in a 20-minute viewing window on the first day of spring ball — as he flashed the poise, precision and touch that made him such a hot commodity on the transfer market.
“The lingo, the plays, the schemes, everything about what Coach Satterfield does is based on the highest level of NFL football,” Rattler’s longtime quarterback coach Mike Giovando told The State in December. “I think Spence thought that was important as well. (He wanted) to get into a scheme and in a system that’s going to help (him) translate to the next level when (he) gets that opportunity.”
The Gamecocks also brought in a handful of weapons around Rattler in former OU teammate Austin Stogner, James Madison receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. and Wake Forest running back Christian Beal-Smith.
Stogner won’t arrive on campus for another couple months as he wraps up his degree at Oklahoma, but both Wells and Beal-Smith are in Columbia and participating in spring practices.
The hope is Wells can complement 2021 leading receiver Josh Vann as a deep threat. Stogner should slide in nicely alongside “wide back” Jaheim Bell and create all sorts of matchup problems.
Satterfield told reporters on Wednesday his preference is to find a go-to option at running back. He pointed to Kevin Harris’ 31-carry, 182-yard effort against UNC as evidence of how sticking with one guy can allow them to get on a roll.
Enter Beal-Smith.
The former Demon Deacon led Wake Forest in rushing each of the past two years. That includes the 2020 season when Beal-Smith shared a backfield with eventual Heisman finalist Kenneth Walker III, who concluded his career at Michigan State.
“It’s on the players to separate themselves and if they don’t separate themselves during practice, in preparation, then that decision is hard to make,” Satterfield said. “But I think it was a great example in the bowl game when you when you feed one guy like that, he’s got a chance to get in a groove.”
The pressure for South Carolina’s offense will almost assuredly fall on Satterfield. The naysayers, too, will be ready to pounce at the first glance of a sideways effort.
But Satterfield has lived through ample criticism over the last six-plus months. He assures he has learned from a dicey first season. Spring practice will be the first look at how far his offense has come.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 7:15 AM.
