Joe DeCamillis hired as new USC special teams coordinator. Here are his salary details
A few days after Shane Beamer had to tip-toe speaking about his newest hire because the contract hadn’t been fully ironed out, the Gamecocks officially hired longtime NFL assistant Joe DeCamillis as their special teams coordinator and associate head coach.
The USC board of trustees Monday approved a contract for DeCamillis, who worked for over 30 years in the NFL before spending the past season in the college world, serving as the Texas Longhorns’ special assistant to the head coach.
DeCamillis’ contract is for three years, running through Dec. 31, 2026, and will pay him $800,000 per year.
If DeCamillis left South Carolina before the end of the year, he would owe the university $500,000. If he leaves in 2025, that number decreases to $400,000 and further drops to $200,000 if he departs in 2026. If USC fires DeCamillis without cause, the school would owe him what’s left on his contract. The figure can be reduced if he’s hired elsewhere.
That’s a salary bump from what former special teams coordinator Pete Lembo was making. Lembo, who made $725,000 last season, moved north to take the head coaching job at Buffalo earlier this month..
“I feel like we’ve made a grand-slam hire, potentially, with what I was looking for,” Beamer said on Saturday before DeCamillis’ hire was official. “It would have to be somebody I felt was a grand-slam hire. And if I was able to make that, then I’d hire a special teams coach. And if not, I would look at Plan B. But I don’t think we’re gonna have to do Plan B.”
DeCamillis, a former wrestler at the University of Wyoming, got his start in the NFL when his father-in-law, and former South Carolina great Dan Reeves, convinced him to join his Denver Broncos staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in 1987.
Since then, DeCamillis turned into one of the most accomplished special teams coaches in football. An NFL special teams coach for over 30 years, he was a special teams coordinator for a decade and a half, winning Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos (2016) and Los Angeles Rams (2022) before the Rams let go of him in 2023.
With hires like DeCamillis, offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains and others, Beamer is proving how much he values NFL wisdom on his coaching staff.
“Any time you bring in a guy with NFL experience — to me, they’re a fantastic coach,” Beamer said Saturday. “If you’re a veteran from the NFL ranks, you know what you’re doing or else you wouldn’t have lasted that long.
SOUTH CAROLINA ASSISTANT COACH SALARIES
Clayton White (DC) — $1.2 million
Dowell Loggains (OC) — $1 million
Joe DeCamillis (ST) — $800,000
James Coley (WRs) — $750,000 (average)
Torrian Gray (DBs) — $675,000
Sterling Lucas (DEs/OLBs) — $575,000
Justin Stepp (TEs) — $525,000
Marquel Blackwell (RB) — $487,500 (average)
Travian Robertson (DL) — $400,000
Lonnie Teasley (OL) — $410,000
This story was originally published January 29, 2024 at 5:19 PM.
