South Carolina Football: 7 questions for the Gamecocks as spring practice begins
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football's 7 Spring Practice Questions:
How will the new coaches affect things in Columbia?
There was a lot of turnover within Shane Beamer's coaching staff this offseason.
Montario Hardesty was fired, Justin Stepp was moved and then left for Illinois. Pete Lembo became the head coach at Buffalo, Jody Wright is the new headman at Murray State, and James Coley (who was hired to replace Stepp, moving him to tight ends) left after just 45 days on the job for the rival Georgia Bulldogs.
When the dust settled, Marquel Blackwell took over the running back coach duties, Mike Furrey is the new wide receivers coach, Joe DeCamillis is the special teams coordinator and associate head coach, and Shawn Elliott returned to coach tight ends and be the run game coordinator.
How might the coaching changes affect the South Carolina football program?
Elliott's fire and intensity will be very noticeable this spring, but will it translate to an improved run game and better blocking from the tight end position?
Joe D brings a ton of experience from the NFL, but special teams philosophies at the pro level and college level aren't the same. It will be interesting to see if Carolina can bounce back to elite special teams production like 2021 and 2022 and if the aggressive attitude in the "other third" of the game will return.
Blackwell has to be an upgrade over Hardesty (because how couldn't he be?), but the Gamecocks need a big leap forward from that position group if they have any real chance of getting back to respectability.
As a former NFL receiver, Furrey should provide plenty of expertise as he coaches his room. Will it translate to production at one of the biggest positional question marks on the team?