Deion Barnes is South Carolina’s youngest assistant. What he brings to Gamecocks
If South Carolina fans are honest with themselves, the moment they learned that edge coach Sterling Lucas was set to take a job at LSU, they were thinking of the worst.
Not just that South Carolina was losing perhaps the best recruiter on its staff, or the guy who developed Kyle Kennard from a solid player into one of the best pass rushers in America. But, well, that Lucas’ departure would lead to the exit of star edge Dylan Stewart, who was extremely close with Lucas.
Fast-forward two weeks and South Carolina is arguably feeling better about its edge room than it was before LSU coach Lane Kiffin broke an unwritten rule and poached Lucas without giving Gamecocks’ coach Shane Beamer a heads-up.
Despite Lucas moving on to LSU, Stewart remained committed to South Carolina and signed a revenue-sharing deal that will keep him a Gamecock for the 2026 season. And as for Lucas’ replacement, Beamer might have found a rising star to lead USC’s pass rushers.
New South Carolina defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Deion Barnes is just 32-years old, has only been coaching at the college level for five years and, yet, coached a pair of first-round picks at Penn State — Chop Robinson and Abdul Carter. After two years as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Penn State, Barnes spent the past three seasons as the Nittany Lions’ defensive-line coach and made the group among the nation’s sack leaders.
“I’m excited to get to work and help these guys out,” Barnes said during his introductory press conference on Friday. “Those who want to get to the next level, I’m gonna push them towards that way, and I’m gonna make this room even better than what the previous coach did.”
He will be the Gamecocks’ youngest assistant coach by nearly six years, which doesn’t seem to bother him at all.
“I mean, you’ve got to have respect,” Barnes said of getting guys to buy into his coaching. “They’ve got to respect what you’re doing. (And they) gain respect because the stuff that I do teach, it works. But also, I explain the why behind it. I’m not just going to tell them to run through a wall and I don’t explain why they’re running through the wall. So the explanation, (the) why behind it is a big part of it.”
Barnes has no connection to South Carolina or anyone on the Gamecocks staff, but defensive coordinator Clayton White and defensive backs coach Torian Gray had met Barnes while recruiting in Virginia and were impressed. When Lucas left for LSU, White mentioned Barnes’ name.
“So Clayton and I jumped on the Zoom with Deion,” Beamer said. “As soon as we got off the Zoom, I immediately called Clayton, and we both agreed there really wasn’t much reason to talk to many other people, if any, and we didn’t.”
Barnes is the second Penn State assistant that Beamer has hired this offseason, joining the Gamecocks staff just a few weeks after new running-backs coach Stan Drayton — who spent the 2025 season at Penn State.
While the foundation of the edge room is secure with Stewart, the Gamecocks’ graduated its most-productive pass-rusher from last season, Bryan Thomas Jr. It’s now on Barnes to recruit talent — in the short term via the transfer portal and in the long term through high school recruiting.
“So I’m familiar with a lot of (the prospects USC has been recruiting), and I know the assets that they can bring to a university,” Barnes said. “So it’s nothing but talking with them and having them understand that the same teaching, the same type of preparation I have for the game — I’ll have it down here.”
