Report: Marcus Satterfield close to deal with Nebraska
According to a report from ESPN's Pete Thamel, South Carolina offensive coordiantor Marcus Satterfield is heading to Nebraska to join the Cornhuskers' new coaching staff under Matt Rhule.
Satterfield and Rhule have a long-standing relationship going back to their days working together at Temple, where Satterfield spent three seasons as Rhule's offensive coordinator with the Owls. The two also had one year of overlap in the NFL, where Rhule was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers and Satterfield served as his assistant offensive line coach.
Satterfield was a part of Shane Beamer’s first coaching staff in Columbia, and the two had worked together as fellow graduate assistants at Tennessee from 2002-2003. But in two years of calling the plays, Satterfield’s offense never found consistent success.
Scoring 94 total points over the final two weeks of the season against Tennessee and Clemson might have indicated some sort of turnaround for his offense, but most of his 25-game tenure calling plays with the Gamecocks was a stroy of inconsistency.
Despite finishing 7-6 with a bowl win, a lot of South Carolina’s 2021 success was in spite of its offense. The Gamecocks finished 106 in FBS in total points with an average of just 22.6 per game and were 110th in total offense with 338.3 yards per game. Some of that was due to the revolving door at quarterback; South Carolina had to play four different guys under center including graduate assistant Zeb Noland.
Reinforcements arrived in the offseason, namely under center with Oklahoma transfer quarterback Spencer Rattler. Alongside Rattler, transfer wide receivers Antwane Wells Jr. and Corey Rucker entered the fold, as did former Wake Forest running back Christian Beal-Smith. All of this combined with the team’s two leaders in receiving yards — Jaheim Bell and Josh Vann — returning meant expectations were high for the offense.
Satterfield did not have his two-year contract extended after 2021, putting the pressure on for a second season leap. Even with a new cast of characters, it never fully materialized.
Lackluster offensive performances through the first half of the season and then against Missouri and Florida in the back half placed him under heavy criticism from the fanbase, and even with the outbursts against Tennessee and Clemson, the Gamecocks still only finished 77th in FBS in total offense.
Beamer has not announced who will be calling plays in the bowl game, although none of the other nine assistant coaches on staff have any prior experience with play calling or serving as an offensive coordinator. One possible contender could be senior analyst Freddie Kitchens, who called plays in the NFL for two seasons with the Cleveland Browns.