Would USC change play-callers as offense struggles? Shane Beamer sounds off

There might be frustration about South Carolina’s offense, but don’t expect head coach Shane Beamer to make any changes at play-caller in the near future.

“Nope,” Beamer said on his weekly Sunday teleconference when asked if there’d been any discussions about shifting play-calling duties away from offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield.

“I think every week — whether we win or lose — we go back and look at the things we did well, look at the things we didn’t do well, how we have to be better as coaches,” he continued. “When we were sitting here last week at 5-2 and nationally ranked, we did it. And when we’re sitting right now here and it’s not what we want it to be after the performance last night, we do the same thing today.”

South Carolina has struggled — at times immensely — through one-plus seasons under Satterfield’s guidance. Snakebitten by quarterback injuries a year ago, the Gamecocks finished 11th in the SEC in rushing, 12th in total offense and 13th in passing.

There was hope internally and externally that the slew of transfers — headlined by receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells and Oklahoma imports quarterback Spencer Rattler and tight end Austin Stogner — USC could find a more explosive form in Satterfield’s second year calling plays.

The Gamecocks have improved by almost eight full points in scoring average, but have still looked sluggish on offense over the course of their 5-3 start to the 2022 season.

South Carolina currently ranks 10th in the SEC in passing offense and 12th in total offense through nine weeks. Rattler has had his share of ups and downs — whether on his own accord, or otherwise. He sits 11th in the league in passing and his nine interceptions rank tops among SEC quarterbacks averaging at least 15 pass attempts per game.

South Carolina’s offensive inconsistency came to a head in Saturday’s loss to Missouri, when Satterfield’s unit mustered just 203 yards of offense. The Gamecocks’ maligned offensive coordinator also drew plenty of ire for not involving do-it-all and much-lauded tight end Jaheim Bell in the contest. Bell finished with zero touches on the night.

“We’ve got a lot of great playmakers on our offense at receiver, at running back and tight end,” Beamer said following Saturday’s loss. “When you play 53 plays on offense and you’re 5 and 13 on third down, it’s hard to play a lot of plays and then get all those guys to ball.”

It’s not expected that Beamer would make a staff change — if he opts to at all — midseason.

Satterfield is under contract through Dec. 31,. If South Carolina were to end his employment before that date, his contract stipulates he’d be owed $200,000 within 60 days of the deal’s termination.

“You’re always evaluating the your team, you’re always evaluating your program and you’re always trying to make sure you’re always doing what is best for the football team and the football program,” Beamer said on Sunday. “And that’s what I always do.”