As Shane Beamer and the South Carolina staff move forward into the post-Spencer Rattler era of Gamecock football, a number of quarterbacks will battle for snaps.
To help add some perspective to the decision on who will start at signal caller at South Carolina, the Gamecocks have added a former SEC head coach to their staff who brings experience from a number of quarterback competitions during his time in the NFL.
Former Alabama head coach Mike Shula has joined the staff as an offensive analyst, offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains shared this afternoon.
“In this business, you’re always looking to bring in knowledge, guys that can help you, and Mike is a guy I worked against a long time and coach Beamer had known as well," Loggains shared.
"We've got a ton of respect for him as an offensive mind and quarterback guy, so we had a chance to hire somebody and that’s why we brought him on. From a resume standpoint, character standpoint, person standpoint, he makes us better.”
Shula was the head coach at Alabama from 2003-06 where he went 26-23 before the NCAA stepped in to vacate 16 of those wins due to textbook related infractions.
After he left the Tide, Shula went on to coach quarterbacks in the NFL for the Jaguars, Panthers and Broncos and served as the offensive coordinator for the Panthers from 2013-17 before taking over offensive play calling for the Giants for a few seasons as well.
He spent the past two seasons with the Bills as a senior offensive assistant.
Shula is the latest former head coach to join the Gamecocks staff this off season, joining Shawn Elliott (Georgia State) and Mike Furrey (Limestone) who left their head coaching posts to join the South Carolina on-field staff.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.