South Carolina Football: Gamecocks hire new coach as spring practice continues

Spring practice is around halfway over for the South Carolina football program. There have been very few surprises thus far outside of Dakereon Joyner sharing snaps with the running backs. Injury news has been minimal, and the Gamecocks’ upperclassmen leaders reportedly have stepped up and taken ownership of the program.

One piece of unexpected news came to light on Monday: Shane Beamer hired a new coach to his coaching staff. Longtime NFL assistant coach Sean Ryan will be joining the South Carolina football program. He is expected to be utilized in an offensive analyst role.

Ryan will likely play a role within the coaching staff that is similar to the one vacated by Freddie Kitchens. Kitchens moved on this offseason to the University of North Carolina to work as their tight ends coach. Offensive analysts Nick Coleman and Christian Ellsworth also left the program this offseason. Coleman took a job as an on-field coach at UAB, and Ellsworth followed previous Offensive Coordinator Marcus Satterfield to Nebraska. Devonte Holloman, Shaq Wilson, and Byron Jerideau have also left their off-field roles with the program this offseason.

Last season, Kitchens worked primarily with offensive game planning in direct coordination with Satterfield. Assuming a similar position, Ryan can be expected to work alongside new Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains to help the Gamecocks prepare each week.

During his NFL coaching career, Ryan worked primarily with quarterbacks and wide receivers. He won two Super Bowls coaching with the New York Giants. Ryan’s 16 years in the League finished with the local Carolina Panthers, as he served as their quarterbacks coach in 2021 and 2022.

Coach Ryan has coached at the collegiate level before, primarily in New York and New England. He worked with quarterbacks, running backs, and special teams at Albany, Colgate, Boston College, Columbia, and Harvard.

SportsTalk’s Phil Kornblut was the first to report the hire.