Muschamp talks Bentley, Werner's decision to stay at USC
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL
The college football coaching carousel is in full effect right now, but Will Muschamp said none of the Gamecocks’ assistant coaches will be hopping on the ride.
After a couple of assistant coaches names surfaced for other jobs inside the conference, Muschamp said Thursday the team isn’t expecting any changes to the staff.
“Absolutely not,” Muschamp said about potential coaching changes. “It’s flattering and says a lot about our staff, but we’ve had a bunch of coaches offered other opportunities and they’re staying at South Carolina.”
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Running backs coach Bobby Bentley’s name came up as the lead candidate for Auburn’s offensive coordinator job while smoke started to follow Dan Werner in regards to Ole Miss’s vacant offensive coordinator job as well.
Auburn has since filled its offensive coordinator position and GamecockCentral has reported Werner is no longer a candidate to rejoin the Rebels’ coaching staff that he spent five years with as quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator.
Both have opted to remain at South Carolina and have been out recruiting for the Gamecocks as early signing day comes up on Dec. 19.
They’ll be back in Columbia by Monday, Dec. 17 as the team starts bowl practice and Muschamp said he’s not anticipating any other staff changes right now.
“Absolutely not,” Muschamp said. “We have a great place.”
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If no assistant leaves, this will be the first offseason under Muschamp the Gamecocks have not replaced an on-field assistant.
In Muschamp’s first offseason, the Gamecocks replaced offensive line coach Shawn Elliott, who left to be the head coach at Georgia State, with Eric Wolford. Last season Muschamp fired offensive coordinator Kurt Roper and promoted Bryan McClendon.
Werner was hired as quarterbacks coach and the team also hired Kyle Krantz as the SAM linebacker and nickels coach.
Muschamp’s sentiment Thursday is one he echoed at the end of the regular season, saying he fully expects this staff to remain intact heading into his fourth year in charge.
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“As far as the coaching stuff's concerned, we're on the verge of some really good things here, moving into the new operations facility, Ken and Cyndi Long Operations Facility, first of January,” Muschamp said in November. “We're on the verge of some special things here and our staff, I don't anticipate any changes. I know our guys are working extremely hard and are excited about our future.”
The Gamecocks (7-5, 4-4 SEC) are scheduled to move into their new state-of-the-art operations building around the New Year, and it will house all of the team’s day-to-day needs like the locker room, coaches’ offices and cafeteria, among other things.
Before that, though, they’ll play Virginia (7-5) in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 29. Kick off is scheduled for noon on ABC.
