Gamecocks Try To Smooth Over Contentious OC Hire By Posting Odd Cameos From Jay Cutler, Matt Barkley

The South Carolina band plays.

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South Carolina football fans aren’t overly excited about the program’s most recent hire. Head coach Shane Beamer plucked Dowell Loggains from Arkansas to lead the team next season following the departure of their last offensive coordinator.

On the surface, Loggains looks like a qualified candidate. He’s got experience as a recruiter in the SEC, spent time as an OC in the NFL, and has led notable quarterbacks throughout his career.

Fans, however, are pointing to Loggains’ lack of success when guiding those offenses as a strike against his resume. More specifically, they point to a 2017 list where the OC was named “Worst Play Caller in the NFL.”

While leading the Bears, Dolphins, Jets, and Titans, Loggains’ offenses only once finished about 26th in the league in scoring. That came in his first full season in Tennessee. His final year saw a New York unit finish dead last in production on the scoreboard.

Typically, you’d say, “Trust the coaches.” But Gamecocks fans are scarred.

Ever since the departure of Steve Spurrier, South Carolina’s offense have been, well, uninspiring. Under Will Muschamp, the program saw putrid outputs under three different play callers resulting in short stints for each. Between 2016 and 2020, they finished 99th or worse in scoring four times.

Keep in mind that the program had players like Deebo Samuel, Bryan Edwards, Shi Smith, and first-round pick Hayden Hurst during that time.

It didn’t matter if it was a former NFL coach (Kurt Roper), an up and comer (Bryan McClendon), or an SEC veteran (Mike Bobo), the Gamecocks continually struggled. Each year, they were sold a bill of goods on why the next guy would work, and each year, they were let down.

That trend continued with Shane Beamer’s first hire at the position in Marcus Satterfield. While the team finished on a torrid pace, averaging 47 points a game against top ten opponents Clemson and Tennessee, the offenses finished 104th and 45th, respectively during his two seasons.

So, forgive them for their hesitation this time around. Especially when the original search consisted of high-profile names like Dan Mullen and TCU’s Garrett Riley.

To try and smooth things over with Gamecock Nation, the social media staff put together a marketing tactic to promote the new hire.

The Gamecocks posted cameos from NFL passers to sway the fans’ opinion.

The media team posted short clips of Connor Shaw, Jay Cutler, and Matt Barkley backing the Dowell Loggains hire. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work as planned.

Many think they’re being gaslit into believing that this OC hire will be unlike the last.

And as for the cameos, they just seem to be a reach for approval. Take a look at how Gamecock fans responded.

It’s not the home run hire that Gamecock fans were hoping for. Let’s just hope “trusting the coaches” works out this time.