What made Kendal Briles right fit for Gamecocks’ OC job? Shane Beamer explains
South Carolina’s new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles is about to face one of the greatest challenges of his career: Righting the ship after USC’s worst-in-conference offense, led by fired OC Mike Shula, resulted in a 4-8 2025 season.
Choosing Briles for the challenge was also one of USC head coach Shane Beamer’s biggest decisions yet. If his bet on Briles doesn’t work, and Beamer’s 32-29 record with the Gamecocks doesn’t improve in year six, his time in Columbia could be over. So why was Briles the right man for Beamer to gamble his job on?
“He’s a proven Power 4 offensive coordinator. And this job is not for on the job training,” Beamer said. “And when you talk about someone that has done it in this league and done it in other conferences at a high level, has done it with multiple personnel, different styles of quarterbacks, it’s really impressive.”
If there’s anyone whose resume shows the ability to turn around an offense, it’s Briles. He’s increased the average yards per game from the year before he arrived in his first season in all six OC positions he’s held prior to the USC job. Beamer said he felt not every coach he interviewed was built for the job or as open to the challenge.
“There were a lot of coaches that early in the process I had conversations with, it sounded great, but as it got closer and closer, just to be frank, I think the opportunity was maybe too big for them, whereas these guys, they ran to this opportunity and said, ‘Let’s freaking go.’”
Kendal Briles’ biggest advocate
The biggest advocate for Briles, Beamer said, was former Gamecock and current Cleveland Browns running back Rocket Sanders. Briles had coached Sanders at Arkansas from 2020-23. Beamer called Sanders to ask what he thought of his former OC and got an affirmative answer.
“He didn’t hesitate. He said, ‘Get it done,’ is what Rocket said. And I said, ‘Hold up now. Get it done, like hiring, or get it done, like he can get it done?’ and he goes ‘Both,’” Beamer said. “So knowing how I feel about Rocket and the kind of player he is and the person he is, that said a lot.”
Briles, while aware of his perceived knack to turn around offenses in a short time period, said doing so at USC will take more than just his own efforts.
“You hope to be able to go do that, you know? I’m sure that’s one of the things coach Beamer looked at when we were going through conversations about this job,” Briles said. “It’s not easy, and it requires a lot of work, and I’m honestly just a small part of it with the offense.”
“It’s going to take a host of people, and obviously the players on the field, to be able to pull something off, and to go out there and execute at high level in this league, which is the toughest league in the country.”
