South Carolina fires offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley
The South Carolina football team’s shortcomings on the offensive line have cost Lonnie Teasley his job.
Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer fired Teasley, the team’s offensive line coach, on Sunday. The move comes amid the line’s struggles during the Gamecocks’ 3-3 start to the season.
Teasley was in his third season as USC offensive line coach. He replaced Greg Adkins in that role.
“Run game coordinator/tight ends coach Shawn Elliott will assume the offensive line coaching responsibilities,” the university said in a statement confirming Teasley’s departure. Elliott worked as USC’s offensive line coach in stints under Steve Spurrier and Will Muschamp.
This is just the second assistant coach who Beamer has fired since taking over South Carolina in 2021. Running backs coach Montario Hardesty was let go following the 2023 season.
South Carolina offensive linemen rank near the bottom individually at each position, according to Pro Football Focus grades for players. Guard Shed Sarratt is the highest-ranked USC player, coming in at No. 218 out of all Division I guards.
USC’s offensive line struggles were evident during Saturday’s 20-10 loss to LSU. And of the 13 penalties in the game, the Gamecocks’ O-line accounted for five of them.
That’s not even counting the first play when — per Beamer — the entire offense knew the play cadence except for center Rodney Newsom. He snapped the ball late. QB LaNorris Sellers fumbled. LSU jumped on it.
South Carolina’s O-Line gave up 41 sacks in both 2023 and 2024. The Gamecocks have already allowed 19 sacks this season, including five in Saturday’s loss to LSU.
This offensive line is also banged up. It came into the game missing two starters — Cason Henry and Nolan Hay — then lost Sarratt early in the game. The Gamecocks had little depth to begin the season, but now they are beyond thin and being forced to play guys who can’t hold up.
The offensive line took a lot of the blame for the Gamecocks’ 5-7 season in 2023, but USC was ravished that year with injuries. At one point in the season, it had double-digit offensive linemen injured. That season was also easy to forgive considering the Gamecocks seemingly had young talent stockpiled at the position, including Henry, Tree Babalade, Trovon Baugh and Jatavius Shivers.
Sunday’s news comes during the toughest stretch of South Carolina’s 2025 schedule and in a season in which the Gamecocks (3-3) entered with buzz as a possible playoff team. USC’s upcoming game against Oklahoma is one of four straight against Top 15 teams.
This story was originally published October 12, 2025 at 1:42 PM.
