There’s a running joke in the sports world about a coach’s call-in show and angry fans from around the state dialing in demanding the ball be thrown to the tight end more.

If what Shane Beamer and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield are saying is true, callers might have to find something else to gripe about.

The Gamecock coaching staff spoke in the spring about playing a lot of 12 personnel—two tight ends, a running back and two receivers—with the conversation continuing in the fall as a way to exploit mismatch opportunities.

“(Defenses) want you to line up and show them you’re in empty or if you’re in a two-by-two or three-by-one. They don’t want you to line up in different personnel groups,” Satterfield said.

“The more you can do in 12 and the more multiple you can be—especially with a tight end that can block the D gap and a tight end that can run routes as a receiver—that’s dangerous.”

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The Gamecocks have a deep room of talented tight ends, starting at the top with Nick Muse and continuing to the likes of EJ Jenkins, Jaheim Bell, Keveon Mullins and a few others as well.

Muse is coming off the best year of his career in 2020 and Bell has been talked about as the Swiss Army Knife of the offense, able to move from in-line to the backfield to out wide, while Jenkins at 6-foot-7 can be a matchup nightmare anywhere.

With a room like that, it makes sense why the Gamecocks would want to put as many tight ends on the field as possible this season.

“How can you plan against it? It’s a guessing game,” Muse said. “It’s hard to game plan because you never know what we can do.”

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Defensively, it can cause an issue because it forces a defense to make a decision between keeping a defensive back on the field or subbing in an extra linebacker.

Plus, if the Gamecocks can move the tight ends around to receiver or even in the backfield creates a few different gaps and a schematic hardship for any defensive coach.

“That’s been a deal for as long as I’ve been coaching. When a team gets into 12 personnel and they’re good at it there are only a certain amount of calls you can do,” D-line coach Jimmy Lindsey said. “Hopefully you can limit it, survive it and get them out of it.”

Teams don’t see 12 personnel as much as they do 11—one back, one tight end and three receivers—with NFL offenses running 12 personnel just 20 percent of the time.

It stands to reason the college offenses should run it a little bit more, but even at this level it’s not as frequent as 10 or 11 personnel.

What a two tight end set gives South Carolina is the ability to deceive a defense and mix and match puzzle pieces to throw a wrench into a defense’s plan.

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“You can come out and make it look like 20 personnel or have two split backs and have one of the guys in the backfield. You can spread it out and have four wide receivers,” running backs coach Montario Hardesty said. “I think it’s great.”

And, if the Gamecocks run as much for the tight end as they say it will—Beamer went out of his way to mention it at SEC Media Days—it could certainly help in tight end recruiting.

“There are smart kids out there and they’ll see what’s talk and what’s real. I think when you see this offense and see the way coach Satt uses the tight ends, it’s going to be exciting and you’re going to want to come be a part of that type of offense,” Erik Kimrey said.

“It’s easy to go to a great school where they’re in 10 personnel a lot or never through to the tight end because they’re handing the ball off every down. That’s not going to be the case here. I think you’ll see that on Saturdays.”

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