South Carolina’s special teams will look brand new in 2026 — except at one spot
A few Sundays ago, South Carolina punter Mason Love woke up to a missed call and a few unopened texts from Joe DeCamillis. His coach was trying to break the news himself.
Instead, Love woke up and saw on social media that his special teams coordinator was becoming his former special teams coordinator. After two years with the Gamecocks, reports broke that DeCamillis was taking the same job with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Love eventually called and the two talked. But the communication didn’t change the fact that another familiar face was leaving Love and USC’s special teamers.
In 2026, the Gamecocks will have a new special teams coordinator, kicker and long snapper. The constant will be Love, who’s expected to again be Carolina’s starting punter and holder.
(South Carolina will of course return its lethal duo of returners — Nyck Harbor fielding kickoffs and Vicari Swain catching punts).
Change, though, is not new for South Carolina’s special teams. Heading into last season, the Gamecocks were searching for a new kicker, punter, long snapper, holder and returners. At least then, Carolina had a consistent presence in DeCamillis.
This go-round, it’ll be new special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley evaluating and coaching the Gamecocks’ specialists.
“I can already tell he’s make me a better punter, holder and just specialist overall,” Love said of Smiley.
And — whether by Smiley’s doing or not — there is already one notable difference between 2025 and 2026.
Last year, Love was competing to be the Gamecocks’ kicker and punter, even seeming to be the favorite for both at one point. Eventually, William Joyce won the kicking job and Love stuck to just punting and holding Joyce’s field goals.
During South Carolina’s first spring practice on Wednesday, Love was catching snaps and practicing his punt drops as redshirt freshman Max Kelley and Texas Tech transfer Upton Bellenfant blasted field goals.
Love said he anticipates he’ll be focusing mostly on just punting and holding this year — but noted that kicking “isn’t something I can’t just forget how to do, so it’s always good to make sure I can do it, and it’s at a high SEC level.”
As a redshirt freshman in 2025, Love was solid, but his performances certainly weren’t up to the high standard left by Kai Kroeger. Love booted 53 punts last season, averaging just over 45 yards per kick while landing a third of them inside the 20-yard line.
By almost every metric, Love was in the middle of the pack compared to the other SEC punters. But, judged against other freshmen, Love’s 45.1-yards per punt was No. 2 in the nation — behind only Hawaii’s 29-year-old punter, Billy Gowers.
Heading into his second season as a starting collegiate punter, Love’s offseason focus revolved around two things.
“Direction,” Love said. “Like putting it near the sideline for them not to be able to return it. … Then, obviously, my flexibility. My mobility has always been — not a problem, but something I always try and work on.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 7:00 AM.
