South Carolina Football: Former Gamecock coordinator on the move to the NFL

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have hired a new wide receivers coach. That wouldn't normally make South Carolina football news, but the man behind the title is one with whom Gamecock fans are very familiar.

According to a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter, long-time Georgia assistant coach and former South Carolina football offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon is leaving the Bulldogs to take his first NFL coaching position.

McClendon has flirted with the National Football League before, but his new job with the Bucs will be his first time actually stepping into the professional coaching ranks. He will work for former Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen who left the Wildcats this offseason to take the same position with Tampa Bay despite promising to "plant roots" in the Bluegrass State.

McClendon had worked with former South Carolina football head coach Will Muschamp, former defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson, and former offensive coordinator Mike Bobo on Kirby Smart's staff in Athens.

After playing for the Bulldogs in college, he spent 9 years with the program as an assistant coach in various capacities, including interim head coach after Mark Richt was fired. He then joined the South Carolina football program where he worked with wide receivers for four seasons, two of which he was the offensive coordinator. He then spent two years at Oregon before returning to his alma mater.

During his time in Columbia, the Gamecock offense was a bit of a roller coaster. When McClendon was just the co-offensive coordinator (Kurt Roper called plays), the offense was terrible, ranked near the bottom of Power-5.

When McClendon took over play-calling duties in 2018, USC had a nice year scoring the football, but outside of individual efforts from certain players, fans felt that it was obvious there was something missing. 2019 proved that hypothesis correct as South Carolina football tumbled down the country's statistical offensive rankings.

Ironically, heading into the 2024 spring season, McClendon will be in the NFL, and former Georgia assistant James Coley will be the wide receivers coach at South Carolina.