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*** On Tuesday, Mike Peterson publicly responded to Gamecock EDGE Jordan Strachan's announcement on Twitter, saying "Let's get it" and punctuating his thoughts with his often-used "#Bucklife" hashtag.
About 8 hours later, it was reported that Peterson would be off to his alma mater. The news was confirmed shortly afterwards, and a deal that seemed to come together quickly was done.
To back up, it's still not a giant surprise that Peterson would leave Columbia for a job on Billy Napier's staff. He played at Florida and began his college coaching career in Gainesville under Will Muschamp. There was talk last season, when Dan Mullen was still the Gators' head coach, that Peterson may be pursued for a position on the defensive staff.
A few days before the early signing period in December, we were told that Peterson was among the names in the mix for position at Florida under Napier and that there had been conversations between the two. Still, as time passed, the possibly of it happening seemed less likely. We do feel confident in saying that this move is not something that caught Shane Beamer by surprise.
It's our understanding that there was some communication between current players and Gamecock staffers on Tuesday night regarding the news. Although Peterson did not recruit a large volume of players on the roster, he is well-liked and has carried good rapports with his position.
The obvious question is to wonder which direction Shane Beamer will go for a replacement. To be clear, we are not yet in the "hard information" stage, as we don't yet have a good sense for where Beamer may turn. Here are a few notes, however.
Current defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey handles the interior - tackles - for South Carolina, but has spent a large part of his career coaching either the entire defensive line or edge players. For instance, Lindsey's last three seasons (2018 and 2019 at Western Kentucky under Clayton White and 2020 at Illinois) he served as defensive ends coach.
White has served as a defensive coordinator for five seasons overall, and in four of those he has split the defensive line among two coaches. The lone season he didn't was in 2017, his first as a coordinator, which was before the NCAA passed legislation allowing for a 10th assistant coach.
Lindsey has also now gone through a full season with his interior line group, one that returns plenty of players next season, and there may be a preference to keep him there so as to not shake it up and have two position groups with new coaches. All these factors could make it more likely that the new defensive hire is indeed a straight replacement, although that's not something we have heard for sure.
White himself has experience coaching in the secondary as well as linebacker - his current position group, and Lindsey has handled the entire defensive line before as we pointed out. So It is worth nothing that Beamer has, in theory, some flexibility here.
It's natural for fans to think about some coaches that have connections either to the staff or program and wonder about their viability as a replacement.
Kenny Martin was Lindsey's running mate along the defensive line at Western Kentucky for a couple seasons and just wrapped his first season at UCF under Gus Malzahn. To be clear, we don't have any information that's linked him to position at USC so far.
There are two Carolina graduates doing good things at lower levels right now as d-line coaches in Spurrier-era standout Travian Robertson, who's coaching under Shawn Elliott at Georgia State, and former Lou Holtz player Dennis Thomas, who's at Western Carolina.
In Robertson's first season at Georgia State, his unit broke the school record for sacks in year one and turned in 4 of the top 11 against-the-run performances in school history.
Thomas worked closely with Brad Lawing as a graduate assistant during his time under Steve Spurrier at Carolina. While in Columbia, he assisted in coaching talented players like Jadeveon Clowney, Melvin Ingram, Cliff Matthews, and Devin Taylor. He's an "A+" person who's considered a strong evaluator and has done well recruiting at that level.
We know that Beamer is certainly aware of the above two and their abilities, although, again, it's too early to know whether either could be in the mix this time.
Some have already asked about current NFL assistant and USC alumnus Chris Rumph, who actually talked with the administration about the head coaching job during the search that led to Shane Beamer.
Rumph was also on Billy Napier's target list at Florida but does not appear to be going to Gainesville. He, per multiple sources, seems to strongly prefer staying in the NFL if possible over heading back to the college game.
As Shane Beamer looks to replace Peterson's spot, there's no doubt that coaching/development ability and fit will be top of mind. We would anticipate some special attention being paid to recruiting chops as well; the Gamecocks struck out on its top two edge targets this cycle in Jaishawn Barham and James Pearce.
Stay tuned to GamecockCentral.com for more.
*** Have you read about Garnet Trust? It's a legal, compliant way for fans to connect with South Carolina student-athletes while supporting them by creating NIL opportunities and compensation. Here's more:
The rules have changed
• College athletes can be paid
• Fans can get in the game
Garnet Trust crowdsources funds from fans like you. And we offer USC athletes the opportunity to earn money by:
• Performing media activities
• Attending fan events
• Autographing items
• And much more
It’s that simple. And it’s legal and compliant.
Don’t miss your chance to get closer to Gamecock athletes and support Gamecock sports.
You can make a difference.
GET IN THE GAME!
Post Up Careers can guide you through this process with their customized resume services. Get personalized coaching to up your game in the job market with Post Up Careers, a company whose mission is to help you navigate all aspects of your career: resume writing, interview preparation, LinkedIn optimization, and much more. Make your talents stand out with the help of a company owned by a lifelong Carolina fan and alumnus – visit PostUpCareers.com or email franklin@postupcareers.com today.
*** On Tuesday, Mike Peterson publicly responded to Gamecock EDGE Jordan Strachan's announcement on Twitter, saying "Let's get it" and punctuating his thoughts with his often-used "#Bucklife" hashtag.
About 8 hours later, it was reported that Peterson would be off to his alma mater. The news was confirmed shortly afterwards, and a deal that seemed to come together quickly was done.
To back up, it's still not a giant surprise that Peterson would leave Columbia for a job on Billy Napier's staff. He played at Florida and began his college coaching career in Gainesville under Will Muschamp. There was talk last season, when Dan Mullen was still the Gators' head coach, that Peterson may be pursued for a position on the defensive staff.
A few days before the early signing period in December, we were told that Peterson was among the names in the mix for position at Florida under Napier and that there had been conversations between the two. Still, as time passed, the possibly of it happening seemed less likely. We do feel confident in saying that this move is not something that caught Shane Beamer by surprise.
It's our understanding that there was some communication between current players and Gamecock staffers on Tuesday night regarding the news. Although Peterson did not recruit a large volume of players on the roster, he is well-liked and has carried good rapports with his position.
The obvious question is to wonder which direction Shane Beamer will go for a replacement. To be clear, we are not yet in the "hard information" stage, as we don't yet have a good sense for where Beamer may turn. Here are a few notes, however.
Current defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey handles the interior - tackles - for South Carolina, but has spent a large part of his career coaching either the entire defensive line or edge players. For instance, Lindsey's last three seasons (2018 and 2019 at Western Kentucky under Clayton White and 2020 at Illinois) he served as defensive ends coach.
White has served as a defensive coordinator for five seasons overall, and in four of those he has split the defensive line among two coaches. The lone season he didn't was in 2017, his first as a coordinator, which was before the NCAA passed legislation allowing for a 10th assistant coach.
Lindsey has also now gone through a full season with his interior line group, one that returns plenty of players next season, and there may be a preference to keep him there so as to not shake it up and have two position groups with new coaches. All these factors could make it more likely that the new defensive hire is indeed a straight replacement, although that's not something we have heard for sure.
White himself has experience coaching in the secondary as well as linebacker - his current position group, and Lindsey has handled the entire defensive line before as we pointed out. So It is worth nothing that Beamer has, in theory, some flexibility here.
It's natural for fans to think about some coaches that have connections either to the staff or program and wonder about their viability as a replacement.
Kenny Martin was Lindsey's running mate along the defensive line at Western Kentucky for a couple seasons and just wrapped his first season at UCF under Gus Malzahn. To be clear, we don't have any information that's linked him to position at USC so far.
There are two Carolina graduates doing good things at lower levels right now as d-line coaches in Spurrier-era standout Travian Robertson, who's coaching under Shawn Elliott at Georgia State, and former Lou Holtz player Dennis Thomas, who's at Western Carolina.
In Robertson's first season at Georgia State, his unit broke the school record for sacks in year one and turned in 4 of the top 11 against-the-run performances in school history.
Thomas worked closely with Brad Lawing as a graduate assistant during his time under Steve Spurrier at Carolina. While in Columbia, he assisted in coaching talented players like Jadeveon Clowney, Melvin Ingram, Cliff Matthews, and Devin Taylor. He's an "A+" person who's considered a strong evaluator and has done well recruiting at that level.
We know that Beamer is certainly aware of the above two and their abilities, although, again, it's too early to know whether either could be in the mix this time.
Some have already asked about current NFL assistant and USC alumnus Chris Rumph, who actually talked with the administration about the head coaching job during the search that led to Shane Beamer.
Rumph was also on Billy Napier's target list at Florida but does not appear to be going to Gainesville. He, per multiple sources, seems to strongly prefer staying in the NFL if possible over heading back to the college game.
As Shane Beamer looks to replace Peterson's spot, there's no doubt that coaching/development ability and fit will be top of mind. We would anticipate some special attention being paid to recruiting chops as well; the Gamecocks struck out on its top two edge targets this cycle in Jaishawn Barham and James Pearce.
Stay tuned to GamecockCentral.com for more.
*** Have you read about Garnet Trust? It's a legal, compliant way for fans to connect with South Carolina student-athletes while supporting them by creating NIL opportunities and compensation. Here's more:
The rules have changed
• College athletes can be paid
• Fans can get in the game
Garnet Trust crowdsources funds from fans like you. And we offer USC athletes the opportunity to earn money by:
• Performing media activities
• Attending fan events
• Autographing items
• And much more
It’s that simple. And it’s legal and compliant.
Don’t miss your chance to get closer to Gamecock athletes and support Gamecock sports.
You can make a difference.
GET IN THE GAME!
