Once again, South Carolina first-year coach Shane Beamer appears very close to finally filling out his first full staff for the Gamecocks football program.
Multiple sources tell FootballScoop that veteran offensive line coach Greg Adkins is emerging as a top candidate to fill South Carolina's offensive line coaching position, a spot needing a coach after Will Friend's abrupt departure earlier this month after Friend's decision to join the staff from Tennessee.
Adkins is among the most-liked position coaches in college football, with distinguished runs at Georgia, Oklahoma State, Syracuse and Tennessee in his background, as well as the past three years tutoring the Thundering Herd's offensive linemen at Marshall University. He's also coached two years in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and coached both sides of the line of scrimmage, as well as having served as Marshall's recruiting coordinator.
Adkins' connection to the Gamecocks? Aside from his plentiful Southeastern Conference experience, Adkins is the former Vols' offensive line coach in charge of Tennessee's trenches when both Beamer and new Gamecocks offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield both were working on Rocky Top as graduate assistant coaches.
Beamer also is working to close out all the auxiliary positions on staff as well, including off-the-field roles. Per sources, Beamer and recently named defensive coordinator Clayton White have added Ahmad Smith to the Gamecocks' defensive quality control/analyst staff.
Smith worked closely the past three seasons alongside White at Western Kentucky, where Smith helped coach the Hilltoppers' defensive backs as both a graduate assistant and quality control coach. Smith is a former Indiana State player who logged time at both defensive end and linebacker for the Sycamores.
Per sources, Beamer and the Gamecocks are hoping to wrap up their staff in the coming days. Tuesday was the last day at USC to change or drop a course without it impacting final semester grades/transcripts. Students returned to spring 2021 semester classes on January 11.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest coaching news.
Thursday update> Chris Clark is now reporting this is a done deal. Greg Adkins is the new offensive line coach at South Carolina.