Newly hired wide receivers coach James Coley decided over the weekend to take the same position at Georgia, filling the vacancy created when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired former Bulldogs assistant Bryan McClendon. Coley made the decision with family in mind, as he had a previous four-year stint with the Bulldogs that ended after the 2019 season when he joined Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. While I am sure Beamer can understand Coley’s decision, it is still a bit of a slap in the face considering Coley’s wife and Shane Beamer’s wife are very close, and that relationship was one of the primary reasons Coley chose the South Carolina job to begin with. Still, it is difficult to fault for taking a job with what has been college football’s best program for the last three years and has served as a springboard for assistants to land jobs at other programs. It is more about the timing of the decision, with him only having been in Columbia for less than a month and a half.

As for candidates to replace Coley, we hope to know more soon on specific names, but I would expect Beamer to move as quickly as is feasible with the start of spring practice about three weeks away. He will want to give the new staff member time to evaluate his personnel and get to know the players before practices get underway.