Multiple South Carolina football coaches have Citrus Bowl experience
South Carolina football is headed to the Citrus Bowl for the first since the end of the 2013 season. Back then, the bowl emphasized the corporate sponsor and called itself the Capital One Bowl. Still, it was the Citrus Bowl. As the Gamecocks head back to Orlando for a New Year’s Eve matchup with Illinois, multiple USC coaches will enter the game with Citrus Bowl experience.
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This starts with head coach Shane Beamer. Beamer went to the Citrus Bowl back in 2001 as an off-field assistant with Tennessee. Working as an assistant defensive backs coach and special teams coach, Beamer helps the Vols to a dominant 45-17 victory over the Michigan Wolverines. On the same day (January 1, 2002), South Carolina knocked off Ohio State for the second year in a row in the Outback Bowl.
Defensive tackles coach Travian Robertson played in the Citrus Bowl during his senior year with the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks whipped the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Capital One Citrus Bowl, 30-13. The big fella blocked a PAT in the game (one that Stephon Gilmore returned for two points). He also added 1.5 tackles for loss and half of a sack.
One of the coaches on that 2011 team was Shawn Elliott. Now the tight ends coach and run game coordinator, Elliott was the offensive line coach back then (and also the run game coordinator). He also was the offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator two years later when the Gamecocks returned to Orlando for a Captial One Citrus Bowl matchup with the Wisconsin Badgers. USC won 34-24 to finish the year 11-2 for the third time in a row.
Wide receivers coach Mike Furrey played for Ohio State when the Buckeyes went to the Citrus Bowl after the 1995 season. Furrey saw most of his action that year on special teams. His OSU team fell to Tennessee by a score of 20-14 in the Florida Citrus Bowl. The Gamecocks did not play in a bowl that year.
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Running backs coach Marquel Blackwell was an off-field assistant for the Florida Gators back in 2015. That year, the Gators earned a berth in the Citrus Bowl. Unfortunately for Blackwell and company, the Michigan Wolverines blasted Florida that day, 41-7. That offseason, South Carolina was transitioning from Steve Spurrier to Will Muschamp at head coach.
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While these coaches’ experiences in Orlando likely won’t have a direct impact on next week’s game, some of the more recent trips to the Citrus Bowl could help provide the current crop of Gamecocks with an idea of what to expect in the non-football elements of the trip south.
South Carolina and Illinois will play at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31st. ABC will broadcast the game, and ESPN+ will make it available for streaming.
