List of South Carolina Gamecocks head football coaches

Head shot of a man with brown hair.
Steve Spurrier, 32nd head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks

The South Carolina Gamecocks college football team represents the University of South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gamecocks compete as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The school has had 36 head coaches since it began play during the 1892 season.[1] Steve Spurrier, who served as South Carolina's 32nd head coach from 2005 to 2015, is the winningest head coach in program history.[2][3] South Carolina's 36th and current head coach is Shane Beamer.

Nine coaches have led the Gamecocks to postseason bowl games: John D. McMillan, Paul Dietzel, Jim Carlen, Joe Morrison, Brad Scott, Lou Holtz, Steve Spurrier, Will Muschamp and Shane Beamer.[4] Paul Dietzel led South Carolina to the 1969 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) championship.[4] Joe Morrison won the Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award in 1984.[5] Steve Spurrier is the leader in games won with 86 victories during his 10 years with the Gamecocks.[6] Of all coaches who coached more than one game, Douglas McKay has the highest winning percentage with 1.000, and W. P. Murphy and Mike Bobo have the lowest winning percentage with .000.[6] Steve Spurrier and Lou Holtz have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.[7]

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list
General Overall Conference Postseason[A 1]
No. Order of coaches[A 2] GC Games coached CW Conference wins PW Postseason wins
DC Division championships OW Overall wins CL Conference losses PL Postseason losses
CC Conference championships OL Overall losses CT Conference ties PT Postseason ties
NC National championships OT Overall ties[A 3] C% Conference winning percentage
† Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame O% Overall winning percentage[A 4]

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards[A 5]
No. Name
[A 6] 		Term
[A 7] 		GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT DC
[A 8] 		CC NC Awards
1 Richard S. Whaley 1896 4 1 3 0 0.250 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
2 Frederick M. Murphy 1897 3 0 3 0 .000 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
3 Bill Wertenbaker 1898 3 1 2 0 0.333 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
4 Irving O. Hunt 1899–1900 12 6 6 0 0.500 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
5 Byron W. Dickson 1901 7 3 4 0 0.429 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
6 Bob Williams 1902–1903 17 14 3 0 0.824 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
7 Christie Benet 1904–1905
1908–1909 		32 13 16 3 0.453 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
8 Douglas McKay 1907 3 3 0 0 1.000 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
9 John Neff 1910–1911 15 5 8 2 0.400 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
10 Norman B. Edgerton 1912–1915 35 19 13 3 0.586 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
11 W. Rice Warren 1916 9 2 7 0 0.222 — — — — 0 0 0 — — 0 —
12 Dixon Foster 1917
1919 		17 4 12 1 0.265 — — — — 0 0 0 — — 0 —
13 Frank Dobson 1918 4 2 1 1 0.625 — — — — 0 0 0 — — 0 —
14 Sol Metzger 1920–1924 46 26 18 2 0.587 3 8 0 0.273 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
15 Branch Bocock 1925–1926 20 13 7 0 0.650 6 4 0 0.600 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
16 Harry Lightsey 1927 9 4 5 0 0.444 2 4 0 0.333 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
17 Billy Laval 1928–1934 72 39 26 7 0.590 18 18 4 0.500 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
18 Don McCallister 1935–1937 34 13 20 1 0.397 5 11 1 0.324 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
19 Rex Enright 1938–1942
1946–1955 		140 64 69 7 0.482 36 43 3 0.457 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
20 James P. Moran 1943 7 5 2 0 0.714 2 1 0 0.667 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
21 Williams Newton 1944 9 3 4 2 0.444 1 3 0 0.250 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
22 John D. McMillan 1945 9 2 4 3 0.389 0 3 2 0.200 0 1 0 — 0 0 —
23 Warren Giese 1956–1960 50 28 21 1 0.570 19 15 0 0.559 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
24 Marvin Bass 1961–1965 50 17 29 4 0.380 13 18 2 0.424 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
25 Paul Dietzel 1966–1974 96 42 53 1 0.443 18 10 1 0.638 0 1 0 — 1 0 ACC Coach of the Year (1969)[12]
26 Jim Carlen 1975–1981 82 45 36 1 0.555 — — — — 0 3 0 — — 0 —
27 Richard Bell 1982 11 4 7 0 0.364 — — — — 0 0 0 — — 0 —
28 Joe Morrison 1983–1988 69 39 28 2 0.580 — — — — 0 3 0 — — 0 Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award (1984)[13]
29 Sparky Woods 1989–1993 55 25 27 3 0.482 5 11 0 0.313 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
30 Brad Scott 1994–1998 56 23 32 1 0.420 13 26 1 0.338 1 0 0 0 0 0 —
31 Lou Holtz† 1999–2004 70 33 37 — 0.471 19 29 — 0.396 2 0 — 0 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (2000)[14]
32 Steve Spurrier† 2005–2015 135 86 49 — 0.637 44 40 — 0.524 4 4 — 1 0 0 SEC Coach of the Year (2005, 2010)[14]
AP SEC Coach of the Year (2005)[14]
33 Shawn Elliott 2015 6 1 5 — 0.167 1 3 — 0.250 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
34 Will Muschamp[15] 2016–2020 58 28 30 — 0.483 17 22 — 0.436 1 2 — 0 0 0 —
35 Mike Bobo[16] 2020 3 0 3 — .000 0 3 — .000 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
36 Shane Beamer 2021–present 48 27 21 — 0.563 15 17 — 0.469 1 1 — 0 0 0 —

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[8]
  2. ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
  3. ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[9]
  4. ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[10]
  5. ^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
  6. ^ South Carolina did not have a head coach for the 1892, 1894 or 1895 seasons.[6]
  7. ^ South Carolina did not field a team for the 1893 or 1906 seasons.[6]
  8. ^ Divisional champions have advanced to the SEC Championship Game since the institution of divisional play beginning in the 1992 season. Since that time, South Carolina has competed as a member of the SEC East.[11]

References

General

  • "South Carolina coaching records". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  • University of South Carolina Athletics Media Relations Department (2012). 2012 South Carolina Football Media Guide (PDF). Retrieved August 7, 2012.

Specific

  1. ^ "South Carolina names Shane Beamer head football coach". 247Sports. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  2. ^ Iacobelli, Pete (November 24, 2004). "Spurrier on board at USC". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Associated Press. p. C4. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  3. ^ "South Carolina Gamecocks Coaches". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  4. ^ a b 2012 South Carolina Football Media Guide, pp. 126–137
  5. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (February 6, 1989). "Morrison, 52, Dies of Heart Attack : South Carolina Coach, Ex-Giant Star Collapses After Racquetball Game". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d 2012 South Carolina Football Media Guide, p. 123
  7. ^ "Lou Holtz". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  8. ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  9. ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  10. ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  11. ^ Harwell, Hoyt (November 30, 1990). "SEC sets division lineups". The Tuscaloosa News. Tuscaloosa, Alabama. p. 1C. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  12. ^ 2012 South Carolina Football Media Guide, p. 147
  13. ^ "Walter Camp Football Foundation Awards". Walter Camp Football Foundation. Archived from the original on June 9, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  14. ^ a b c 2012 South Carolina Football Media Guide, p. 145
  15. ^ "Will Muschamp accepts South Carolina Gamecocks head-coaching job, report says".
  16. ^ "South Carolina announces change in football leadership". www.secsports.com. Retrieved November 17, 2020.