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Report: South Carolina assistant Jody Wright accepts head coach opportunity at Murray State

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•01/10/24
South Carolina tight ends coach Jody Wright during preseason camp
Jody Wright (Katie Dugan/GamecockCentral)

South Carolina will be without an assistant coach, as tight ends coach Jody Wright has agreed to become the next head coach at Murray State, according to ESPN’s Chris Low.

Wright has spent the past two seasons in South Carolina, where he has worked with some talented tight ends, including Jaheim Bell and Trey Knox. The position has been fairly productive in each of his years in charge.

Bell logged 492 total offensive yards and five touchdowns in 2022 under Wright’s direction, before he departed for Florida State. Knox, who arrived in 2023 from Arkansas, recorded 312 receiving yards and two scores.

Prior to taking the job at South Carolina, Wright spent two seasons in the NFL with the New York Giants. He had spent the year before that with the Cleveland Browns.

At the college level, Wright worked at UAB in 2018. For three years prior to that (2015-17), he served as Alabama’s director of player personnel. He had also served on staff at Alabama from 2010-12 in different capacities.

Needless to say, a Jody Wright departure leaves head coach Shane Beamer with a big hole to fill on his offensive staff.

South Carolina expected to hire James Coley

Jody Wright isn’t the only staff news around the South Carolina program at the moment, as news surfaced on Tuesday that Beamer is expected to hire a long-time assistant coach on offense.

According to Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, South Carolina is expected to hire James Coley as an offensive assistant coach. Coley spent the past three seasons at Texas A&M but has ventured across the south as an assistant.

Coley also has experience as an offensive coordinator at Florida State (2010-12, Miami (2013-15) and Georgia (2018-19). In addition, Coley also coached briefly in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins.

He now joins a Gamecocks offense that finished just 12th in the SEC this past season in points per game (26.0). South Carolina finished 5-7 to miss a bowl game for the first time under Beamer.