What South Carolina’s Justin Stepp said about offseason Florida job interest
South Carolina receivers coach Justin Stepp isn’t going anywhere.
Stepp, who was linked to the vacant receivers coach position at Florida earlier this month, reiterated his commitment to USC on Thursday afternoon.
“If it’s OK, I don’t want to get into all of that,” he said. ”I’m happy to be home. That’s a direct result of the players and Coach (Shane) Beamer and the program we’re building. I’m happy here. I’m happy with Coach Beamer, happy with Coach (Dowell) Loggains and I love my room. I love my guys and I think we’ve got a really good thing going here.”
Florida head coach Billy Napier had been in the market for a receivers coach after incumbent Keary Colbert left to coach receivers for the Denver Broncos.
Stepp and Napier have a connection and go back to their playing days at Furman, where Napier quarterbacked the Paladins and Stepp played receiver shortly after Napier graduated. The two also crossed paths at Clemson between 2009 and 2010 when Napier served as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, while Stepp was a graduate assistant.
Under his guidance, Stepp helped Gamecocks pass-catchers Antwane “Juice” Wells, Jalen Brooks and Josh Vann to career seasons over the last two years. He’s also helped guide receivers Courtland Sutton, James Proche, Treylon Burks and Michael Woods to the NFL during his previous coaching stops at SMU and Arkansas.
Stepp received a raise following the 2021 season that bumped his salary from $460,000 to $475,000 in 2022 and again up to $525,000 for the 2023 season, the second year on his deal.
Florida announced the hiring of Billy Gonzales as their new receivers coach on Thursday morning. Gonzales is in his third-stint with the Gators after previously working for Dan Mullen and Urban Meyer.
South Carolina has had a handful of assistants’ names floated for jobs elsewhere during the 2022-23 coaching carousel. Defensive backs coach Torrian Gray was reportedly in the running for a similar position at Florida State, while special teams coordinator Pete Lembo and defensive coordinator Clayton White had their names mentioned for the head coaching job at Charlotte.
This story was originally published March 23, 2023 at 1:26 PM.
