(Coaches search update for December 5th whats next?)

[FeatheredCock]

(Coaches search update for December 5th whats next?)

Our eye in the sky observation of Thursday turned out to be dead on. That jet that left Columbia’s downtown airport Thursday afternoon bound for Gainesville, FL did carry Ray Tanner for an interview with Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson. We’re told Tanner was highly impressed with Johnson. That was leg one of a four leg trip for Tanner. Friday morning he flew up to Bowling Green, KY where he interviewed Louisville coach Scott Satterfield. Saturday he will fly down to Louisiana for the in-person interview with Louisiana coach Billy Napier. Then, it’s the flight back to Columbia and a meeting with USC president Bob Caslen. That meeting could end with a decision on a coach to take to the board of trustees. If that’s the end of the process, Tanner will have interviewed nine candidates in person. Caslen was not able to join him on the in-person interviews because of his issues with Covid, but he has been involved with each one via Zoom.

According to a source, Tanner was very impressed with Satterfield in their interview session and considers him high up on his list along with Oklahoma assistant head coach Shane Beamer, who interviewed eight days ago in Oklahoma, and Napier. Satterfield has head coaching experience, and that is viewed as a plus for him in this case. He makes $3.25 million per season and has a $5 million buyout thru the end of this year. One source identified the search as “neck and neck” between Beamer and Satterfield, with Napier to be factored in at some level after his interview. While Satterfield and Napier have the head coaching experience Caslen prefers, Beamer has widespread support from former Gamecock players, a number of board members and some influential boosters. All three, by the way, have the same agent in Jimmy Sexton of Memphis.

The other confirmed interviews were with Coastal Carolina coach Jamey Chadwell and Houston Texas outside linebackers coach, and former Gamecock defensive end, Chris Rumph.

If the decision is to go with Beamer, an announcement could come quickly because he does not have any complicated contract issues to deal with, such as a buyout or a multi-million dollar salary. If it’s Satterfield or Napier, the process could take longer because they have the more complex contracts typical of head coaches. So, if there’s a puff of white smoke rising from the campus Saturday night, an announcement could follow anywhere from Sunday to Tuesday.

 

[JimG]

One concern with Satterfield is can he recruit SEC calibre players? 

Shane Beamer has this on his resume: He has recruited good players at USC. 

 

[riceatusc]

I want Beamer. We will have more money to pay assistants and he can recruit at USC.  He WANTS to be here which means a lot. Booster and ex players want him here, could equal more money coming in.  
 

bring in Beamer and get this train rolling 

 

[Spur's Addiction]

After the game last night, I'm not sold on Napier anymore. Dude called an intentional safety, down by 5 with less then two minutes to go. 

 

[FurmanCock]

After the game last night, I'm not sold on Napier anymore. Dude called an intentional safety, down by 5 with less then two minutes to go. 

I know you meant "up by 5"

 

[Spur's Addiction]

I know you meant "up by 5"

Yeah - up by 5,

 

[FurmanCock]

Yeah, probably a classic case of simply overthinking the situation, when first level thinking is all you need to access the situation.  I tend to lean more Beamer than Napier, but hopefully that one decision doesn't derail his career.

 

[JimG]

 I tend to lean more Beamer than Napier, but hopefully that one decision doesn't derail his career.

...a decision that Shane Beamer has never made. ULL won...that's all that really matters. Just win. 

 

[Cockyandproud]

If we hire anyone other than Beamer, Napier or Chadwell, I'm going to extremely underwhelmed.

Napier's playcalling was a little weird last night, but I'm assuming he had no faith in his long snapper, and put the burden on his defense, which came through for him.

 

[zcoop]

...a decision that Shane Beamer has never made. ULL won...that's all that really matters. Just win. 

Agreed, he had a long snapper who was having issues and decided to bypass that situation. Had he chose to punt and App State got a touchdown as a result, he would have been critiqued for that too. 

 

[Cockyandproud]

...a decision that Shane Beamer has never made. ULL won...that's all that really matters. Just win. 

How do we know?  As an assistant head coach, I have a hard time believing he hasn't called plays at some point in his career.  He's been on offense, defense, and special teams, and seemingly, has excelled in all three phases.  I think Beamer is able to coach well, but admittedly, he hasn't been THE man at any program. To me, the question is if he is capable of management.  If Dabo can do it, I would think Beamer can.  He is light years ahead of Dabo at this point in their careers.

At this point, I still think I favor Napier for the job, though.

 

[Spur's Addiction]

Agreed, he had a long snapper who was having issues and decided to bypass that situation. Had he chose to punt and App State got a touchdown as a result, he would have been critiqued for that too. 

Or on 3rd and two plan to run two runs. If you don;t make it, at least you force App St. to burn a time out and take take the clock down to near 1 minute. 

 

[JimG]

How do we know? 

You could be right....but it's unlikely. A decision like this in a game that has postseason implications? 

Point being....one coach in one game makes one questionable call, and that makes someone who's never been a HC more qualified? 

 

[Sporkgod50]

Or on 3rd and two plan to run two runs. If you don;t make it, at least you force App St. to burn a time out and take take the clock down to near 1 minute. 

Completely agree here. The pass on third down was worse than the safety. Still a win is a win

 

[Schark]

I was hoping the game would go into OT to see how Napier would respond knowing his kicking was essentially unavailable.

 

[Swayin]

I think three really bad snaps led to him making that call - what would we be saying if he had jerked a fourth one into the stands and they lost? All I know is that Napier beat a team that beat us last year with a bunch of two- and three-star talent, is going to his conference championship again, and has a team that used to be the patsy every put on their schedule ranked and sitting at 9-1.

 

[zcoop]

That was not the headscratcher - that was the preceding play, when he had 3rd and 2 and opted for a roll-out pass that had to be chucked out of bounds. That stopped the clock, forced a punt (or in this case, Safety), and allowed App State to preserve their last TO.

A run might very well have gotten the First Down and ended the game, or gotten them close enough for a QB sneak for the First Down. Instead, App State had plenty of time, and even had a shot at a TD that would have won the game in regulation. And App State missed a chip shot FG that would have gotten them inot OT with the momentum.

I think the OC thought he could catch them sleeping but they were not fooled and stopped the play. He guessed wrong. I would have ran clock but  he gambled.

 

[Cockyandproud]

You could be right....but it's unlikely. A decision like this in a game that has postseason implications? 

Point being....one coach in one game makes one questionable call, and that makes someone who's never been a HC more qualified? 

I’m not saying Beamer is more qualified. My point is that people say he has never been a coordinator, so he has never called plays. I would think, and I have no football playing or coaching experience, that if a guy has been assistant head coach at two major football programs, he probably has some play calling experience somewhere down the line.  

 

[Swayin]

Satterfield hire headline: “Gamecocks hire 3-win coach to prove they truly are mediocre”