South Carolina head football coach Shane Beamer has decided to stay in-house and hand the keys to the Gamecocks offense over to veteran coach Mike Shula, who spent this past season as a Senior Offensive Assistant on the Carolina coaching staff, working primarily with the quarterbacks.

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At this point in time for this particular program heading into 2025, the decision is the right one and makes all the sense in the world.

Shula replaces Dowell Loggains who was named the head coach at Group of Five powerhouse Appalachian State last week.

There are many ways to look at this hire and be confident that Beamer made the right call.

QUARTERBACK COACHING

The offensive coordinator at South Carolina also is the quarterbacks coach. It’s important to have a good scheme and be a good play caller in this role without question, but the other side of it is getting the most important position on the field right.

Outside of this season and being the head coach at Alabama, his alma mater (2003-06) Shula has spent every season as a coach in the National Football League. His stints as an offensive coordinator include the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1996-99), the Carolina Panthers (2013-17) and the New York Giants (2018-19). He is most known for the work he did with Cam Newton and the NFL level. Newton won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2011 when Shula was the quarterbacks coach and was the league’s MVP in 2015 when the Panthers reached Super Bowl 50.

Shula is widely credited with being a big part of the success the Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick had at the NFL level. He also developed David Garrard into a full-time starter and a pro bowl pick as the quarterbacks coach of the Jaguars in 2009. He took on the challenge of coaching Daniel Jones with the New York Giants. He spent two seasons (2022-23) with the Buffalo Bills as a senior offensive assistant and helped with the development of Josh Allen as well.

This season at South Carolina, Shula was