Shane Beamer addresses Marcus Satterfield leaving for Nebraska

Shane Beamer will be looking for a new South Carolina offensive coordinator after Marcus Satterfield left to rejoin his old friend Matt Rhule at Nebraska in the same role.

Driving up toward Clemson the week of the regular-season finale, Beamer had a pretty good idea he might have to make a new hire when an alert about Nebraska hiring Matt Rhule popped up on his phone. Rhule and Satterfield had previously worked together at four different stops: Western Carolina (2005), Temple (2013-15), Baylor (2018-19) and the Carolina Panthers (2020).

“I know the relationship that he and Matt have, so once Matt got let go by Carolina I knew because of what coach Rhule had done in college football that he was going to have other college teams that were interested in him,” Beamer said. “So I certainly knew that he would make a phone call to Marcus if he ever got a job again in college.”

Following the Clemson game, Beamer said he had conversations with both Satterfield and Rhule on Nov. 27 and No. 28.

Ultimately Satterfield decided to join Rhule’s Nebraska staff, with multiple reports surfacing on Nov. 28 that Rhule had hired him as the Cornhuskers’ offensive coordinator.

“Wish him well. Good opportunity for him to get connected back with coach Rhule and a lot of those guys that he’s coached with at not only Baylor, but Temple as well,” Beamer said. “So he was excited about the opportunity and we thank him for everything that he did for South Carolina football in his two years here and wish him well out in Lincoln with coach Rhule.”

Beamer praises Satterfield for raising profile of South Carolina offensive coordinator job

The Gamecocks head coach sounded grateful for what Satterfield helped accomplish in his stint as the South Carolina offensive coordinator.

South Carolina emerged as a team making a name for itself late in the year with upsets of top-10 Tennessee and Clemson squads, keyed by a suddenly resurgent Spencer Rattler at quarterback.

Beamer expects that success will make it easier to hire a new coordinator this time around.

“In regards to this search, not that it wasn’t appealing two years ago, but it’s a lot more appealing now,” he said. “There’s a lot more interest in it now than what it was two years ago when I was trying to hire an offensive coordinator. The amount of people that have reached out to me from sitting head coaches to NFL coaches to current coordinators has been pretty impressive.”

As for a timeline for a new South Carolina offensive coordinator hire?

“Certainly have had some conversations, but nothing imminent,” Beamer said. “Certainly know we can’t wait forever, and we’re not going to, either. But I also want to make sure as I did; everyone wants it done like tomorrow. I want to make sure we have the right fit for everyone involved, not just in the short term but long term as well for what’s best for South Carolina football.”

How South Carolina is splitting Satterfield’s duties

Following an 8-4 finish, South Carolina was selected to play in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against No. 21 Notre Dame on Dec. 30.

Beamer now has to figure out how to handle Satterfield’s normal obligations. And with the early signing period fast approaching, it’s as important as ever to hit the ground running, full-time replacement or not.

“We haven’t gotten there yet,” Beamer said. “Right now Lonnie Teasley and Greg Adkins are both on the road recruiting for us. They were both out last week. They’ll both be out this week. So that’s certainly something that you can adjust and be flexible with. So both of those guys, I guess they’re technically the tenth assistant right now because they’re both on the road recruiting.

“Then as we get closer to it, our graduate assistants and analysts, they’re not on the road recruiting this week, so this is the most critical week of the year for them because they should be experts on Notre Dame when our coaches come off the road here recruiting in a week and a half. So those guys will really be working to break down Notre Dame, help put together an initial plan for Notre Dame while we’re recruiting.”

Beamer himself will be on the road recruiting, but that doesn’t mean he can’t begin drawing up a gameplan for the Fighting Irish.

“Thankfully we have great technology with Joe Lisle and his staff now to where we can watch Notre Dame on the iPad when we are traveling recruiting and in hotels and rental cars and airplanes like we are over the next week and a half, where we as head coaches can get a head start on Notre Dame,” Beamer said.

Who will call plays for South Carolina?

With no South Carolina offensive coordinator right now, Beamer has yet to decide on who the play-caller for the bowl game will be.

“And I probably won’t tell you guys either,” Beamer said. “Not to be a jerk, but if I say that so-and-so is the play-caller then obviously Notre Dame’s going to go back and look at that guy’s background when maybe that guy has called plays other places or places he’s been.

“If you tell the running backs coach is going to be the play-caller, does that mean they’re going to call 90% running plays in the bowl game? Or if you say the receivers coach is going to be the play-caller, does that mean we throw it 95% of the time? So I’ve talked to all those guys kind of about where we are and it’s certainly a group effort putting the plan together. Then once we get to gameday we’ll see where we are.”

Could Beamer himself call plays?

“I would if I felt it was the best thing for the team,” he said. “Something I haven’t ruled out.”