Former South Carolina OL DJ Park passes away

South Carolina lost a former Gamecock on Sunday with the news of the passing of DJ Park, an offensive lineman who spent five seasons in Columbia in the 2010s.

Shawn Elliott, who just returned to the program as the team’s run-game coordinator and tight ends coach, tweeted about Park’s death this evening. Elliott was on South Carolina’s staff with several roles, including as the offensive line coach, for four of Park’s five seasons on the roster

Saddened to hear about the passing of former Gamecock OL DJ Park. DJ was an awesome individual with a huge heart. You will be missed my friend. pic.twitter.com/lOFGigifM0

— Shawn Elliott USC (@CoachSElliott) March 4, 2024

Park would have been just 29 years old.

Park enrolled at South Carolina back during January of 2013. Over the next five years from there, he would appear in 44 games for the Gamecocks. Four of those starts were starts during the tenure of Steve Spurrier. He would then leave after his redshirt senior season in 2017 with no other opportunities in football.

Park ended up redshirting during his freshman season. Then, over the next four years, most of his action would come on special teams. He did play on their offensive line in spots, though. The majority of his snaps came at right tackle as well as some at right guard.

Park arrived as an in-state prospect out of Dillon High School. He was a four-star talent and Top-300 recruit in his class. He was a Top-15 offensive tackle and the No. 5 player out of South Carolina in that cycle.

Shane Beamer on acting fast in hiring of Mike Furrey

South Carolina has undergone a few coaching changes in the past month as the carousel rolls on. Shane Beamer has been prepared to fill the openings on his staff as they occur this offseason, acting quickly on his past three hires.

Beamer and the Gamecocks introduced their new wide receivers coach, Mike Furrey, on Friday morning.

“I’d say you have a shortlist,” Beamer said. “There are certainly guys in my mind and in my office that I have a lot of respect for as receiver coaches or tight ends coaches, running back coaches, defensive backs coaches, that, the first time I have an opening, I’m going to look at that list to see if any of those guys fit what we need.”

“I was in the Bahamas last Saturday when the (James) Coley news broke,” Beamer said. “So I was sitting on the beach and I’ve got I feel like 100 agents and coaches that are hitting me up and texting me and things like that, which wasn’t the ideal scenario, as well. But that’s part of it.”

“I wanted to get somebody in here where he could get around the players yesterday, which he did. You gotta be ready, you gotta have a plan. Be ready to move and act on who you want to hire.”