Veteran quarterback guru joins Gamecocks staff
Former Ole Miss co-offensive coordinator Dan Werner is set to become South Carolina's quarterbacks coach, head coach Will Muschamp announced Friday.
Werner, who currently serves as an offensive analyst at Alabama, moves into the role after South Carolina co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper was fired following the end of the regular season.
South Carolina assistant Bryan McClendon had the interim tag stripped from his offensive coordinator title and becomes the Gamecocks' new full-time play-caller after doing so in the Outback Bowl win.
"Through this process, I interviewed a lot of people," Muschamp said. "I interviewed Dan one-on-one and then I brought him to Columbia for a day of bowl practice. He and Bryan hit it off and I saw that this was going to be able to work. Dan has got a wealth of experience and knowledge as a play-caller and as a developer of quarterbacks."
Werner will complete his job at Alabama through Monday's national championship before starting in Columbia on Jan. 11.
With over three decades of coaching experience, Werner will provide McClendon with veteran insight as the Gamecocks' new play-caller takes on the role for the first time.
Werner spent five seasons as Ole Miss' co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach when he helped produce some of the Rebels' all-time best offenses and developed quarterbacks Bo Wallace and Chad Kelly.
Werner's 2015 offense at Ole Miss set program records for scoring (531), touchdowns (68), total offense (6,731), passing yards (4,351), passing touchdowns (35), 50+ point games (4) and games with more than 600 yards of offense (3), according to his old Ole Miss bio.
The Rebels led the SEC and were top 10 nationally in scoring (40.8), total offense (517.8 ypg) and passing (334.7 ypg).
Werner was let go at Ole Miss in December of 2016 before taking the analyst role at Alabama last March.
Werner's eight seasons at Miami - in two different stints - saw him tutor quarterbacks Ken Dorsey, Gino Terretta, Steve Walsh and Craig Erickson.