Shawn Elliott rejoined the South Carolina coaching staff on Thursday, taking over as tight ends coach according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg . The move is a welcome one for the Gamecocks program. The 50-year-old was a popular assistant under Steve Spurrier and served as interim head coach in 2015 after the Hall of Famer’s midseason retirement.
However, Elliott’s decision leaves his now-former program at Georgia State in a very tough spot.
With Elliott’s resignation this late in the offseason, the Panthers must bump back spring football practice, which was already underway, and their spring game. The program announced the scheduling change on Thursday, as it must now find a new head coach extremely late in the cycle.
Elliott joins the growing list of coaches who have departed college head coaching jobs for assistant roles, whether in the NFL or at more prominent college programs. While not unprecedented previously, such decisions have become a definite trend this offseason, including moves such as Jeff Hafley’s leaving Boston College for the Green Bay Packers and Chip Kelly’s jumping from UCLA to be Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.