South Carolina adding two new assistant football coaches? Here’s what we know
More changes are coming to the South Carolina football staff.
The Gamecocks appear to be close to finding their new running back coach.
Liberty running backs coach/co-offensive coordinator Newland Isaac is the front-runner for the job, a source close to the situation told The State. The Gamecocks have been looking for a replacement for Montario Hardesty, who was not retained after the 2023 season.
Isaac is one of three finalists for the opening, the source said. He has ties to the area and played high school football at Lower Richland.
Isaac has been on Jamey Chadwell’s staff at Liberty and also coached with him at Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern. A decision is expected this week.
The Gamecocks lost another member of its staff on Wednesday. Tight ends coach Jody Wright was named the football coach at Murray State.
GamecockCentral and 247Sports also reported that veteran assistant coach James Coley is joining Shane Beamer’s staff, but no role was specified. Coley was tight ends coach at Texas A&M this year but was let go when Jimbo Fisher was fired. He’s also coached wide receivers and quarterbacks in prior stints.
Coley has worked with Beamer at Georgia where he was offensive coordinator.
A separate source told The State that Coley’s family was checking out schools for their children in the Columbia area last week.
The Big Spur reported at Coley is in the mix for a job with Miami so the Gamecocks’ job might not be a done deal yet.
This story was originally published January 10, 2024 at 10:16 AM.
