South Carolina Football: Legendary Gamecock Gets New NFL Gig

Duce Staley is a legend. Born and raised around Columbia, he attended Airport High School and, after a brief junior college stint, became a star for the South Carolina football program. His senior year, Staley was among the country’s leading rushers, totaling almost 1400 yards (over 1100 on the ground) in just eleven games. After his collegiate playing career, Staley had a solid NFL career that was held back by injuries. When he finished playing, Staley transitioned to coaching. He won one Super Bowl ring as a player and one as a coach.

On Tuesday, Staley officially was named the Running Backs Coach and Assistant Head Coach of the Carolina Panthers after two weeks of speculation. In what will be his thirteenth year coaching in the NFL, Staley will be in his eleventh as a running backs coach and sixth as an assistant head coach.

Duce has a tremendous reputation in the coaching community. As an assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles, he worked for three offensive gurus in Andy Reid, Chip Kelly, and Doug Pederson, and with the Detroit Lions, Staley worked for one of the best motivators in football in Head Coach Dan Campbell. Partially in thanks to these men, Staley is viewed as a running backs technician and an elite leader of men. Now with another offensive-minded coach in new Carolina Panthers Head Coach Frank Reich, Staley will be able to showcase both of these skills with a young team in a rebuild.

Now in his third different assistant head coach position, Staley seems like a prime candidate to become an NFL head coach soon. He was reported to be a finalist to fill the head coaching vacancy in Philadelphia when Nick Sirianni ultimately got the job. If and when Staley does get the ultimate coaching promotion, he will become one of only just a handful of Gamecocks to become head coaches in the league, a group led by Dan Reaves and his 23-year head coaching career.