Where Marcus Satterfield wants to see the offense improve the most
There’s no doubt South Carolina offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield wants to improve everything across the board in year two.
But there’s one thing, in particular, he wants to see tick up as the Gamecocks begin preseason camp Friday.
“We have to be able to throw the football at an elite level,” Satterfield said.
South Carolina struggled in the passing game last year, cycling through four quarterbacks en route to a seven-win season.
The Gamecocks offensively ranked 12th in the SEC in completion percentage (58.6), ninth in yards per attempt (7.3) and tenth in quarterback rating (133.69).
Their 37 pass plays of at least 20 yards ranked 11th in the SEC. It was of just Missouri, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.
Satterfield hopes for consistency, along with adding some pieces out of the portal that improves.
“We have to be able to drop back, protect the quarterback and throw the football. We have to have elite timing and spacing,” he said. “I’m the first coordinator who’s been here back to back year in three cycles. For these kids to have the same offense, same terminology for two years is huge.”
South Carolina brings in Spencer Rattler as the headliner of the portal class, pairing him with Austin Stogner, Corey Rucker, Antwane Wells Jr., Christian Beal-Smith, Nate Adkins and Lovasea Carroll.
The Gamecocks also return the likes of Josh Vann, Dakereon Joyner, MarShawn Lloyd, Juju McDowell, Jaheim Bell and others.
Satterfield and Shane Beamer both continue to preach it’s not all on Rattler to resurrect this offense, everyone has to be better around him.
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“A lot of it is on the receivers just as much, if not more, than the quarterback. They have to understand the spacing, the timing and the why. We’re very personnel-driven,” Satterfield said.
“You have to pay attention to where you are in the formation, where you are in the progression and understand when you’re supposed to flash in front of a quarterback’s eyes. Obviously, the quarterback has to be great in his timing and footwork…There’s a lot that goes into it.”
He likened the hopeful jump to LSU in 2019 under Joe Brady.
This offense is almost identical to that, and Brady coach the receivers.
There, he was able to fine-tune timing and spacing and the offense took a massive leap forward en route to an eventual national championship for the Tigers.
South Carolina might not make a national-championship level jump, but the Gamecocks are expecting a nice increase in offensive production next season.
“I think we’re going to make a huge jump in the pass game understanding space and timing,” Satterfield said.
The Gamecocks begin preseason camp Friday morning and runs through the entire month of August before kicking off against Georgia State Sept. 3.
