Will Muschamp makes coaching changes
University of South Carolina head football coach Will Muschamp announced this morning that there has been some coaching changes. The Gamecocks bring on Joe Cox as the tight ends coach Cox comes to Columbia after spending the past five seasons as an assistant coach at Colorado State University.
Bobby Bentley, who mentored the tight ends in 2019 and has spent the past four seasons as an offensive assistant coach, will transition to the quarterbacks room and will assist offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo. To make room for Cox in an on-field position, Kyle Krantz will return to his role as a defensive analyst, a title he held from 2016-17, before working as the Nickels/SAM linebackers coach/special teams assistant for the past two seasons.
"I'm excited to add Joe to our staff," said Coach Muschamp. "He has a long relationship with Coach Bobo, who speaks very highly of him, and did a great job with the tight ends and wide receivers at Colorado State. Bobby will be able to bring his experience and expertise to assist with the quarterbacks, allowing Coach Bobo the luxury of being able to move around more during practice to observe the entire offense," continued Coach Muschamp. "Kyle has done a fantastic job for us, but in order to make this work for our offense, we needed to open up an on-field spot for Joe to come aboard."
Cox spent the 2019 season as the Rams' wide receivers coach after mentoring the tight ends from 2015-18. The former Georgia quarterback, who started every game in 2009 for Mike Bobo, joined the CSU staff as a graduate assistant in 2015 after coaching for two years at the high school level in his home state of North Carolina.
"I appreciate Coach Muschamp giving me this opportunity and I'm excited about continuing to work with Coach Bobo," Cox said in a press release issued by the school. "We have a long history together - first at Georgia, then at Colorado State. I'm also looking forward to getting back to the South and the places where I'm most comfortable. I am anxious to get started working with this staff, the group I have this spring, and adding more quality players to the tight ends room."
Cox helped propel a Rams' offense that turned in some of the most productive seasons in school history. CSU has posted two of the top five scoring seasons in school history (3rd-35.3 in 2016 and 5th-33.4 in 2017) and two of the top four marks for total offense with Cox on the staff, including a school-record 492.5 yards per game in 2017 (also 4th, 462.5 in 2016). The 2017 Rams also set school records for first downs per game with 25.5 and third-down conversions at 50.3 percent.
In 2019, the Rams ranked 14th in the nation in passing offense, averaging 305.3 yards per game through the air. Junior wide receiver Warren Jackson averaged 111.9 receiving yards per game, fourth in the country, on 77 receptions with eight touchdowns in 10 games. True freshman wideout Dante Wright added 57 catches for 805 yards. Jackson and sophomore tight end Trey McBride had 45 catches for 560 yards and four touchdowns, earning first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors.