Flight Tracking: Gamecocks Rumored To Be Targeting Major Hire In Hopes Of Becoming Legit SEC Threat

The regular season is over meaning flight tracking season is in full swing. College football coaching rumors are beginning to swirl, and the drama is as high as ever.

Nebraska fans were the first to be seen checking their local airport schedules as they looked for a replacement for fired head coach Scott Frost. Many believed Lane Kiffin to have some interest in heading to Lincoln, but that never came to fruition. The Cornhuskers hired fired Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule instead.

Auburn also ran with those Lane Kiffin ambitions as fans on The Plains attempted to speak his hire into existence. Kiffin wound up spurning Aubie to remain at Ole Miss, leaving the Tigers to land Hugh Freeze after the swing and miss.

Now, there’s another notable SEC team tracking flights, but it’s not for the head coaching role.

South Carolina is searching for an offensive coordinator after Marcus Satterfield chose to join forces with Rhule at Nebraska. They’ve got their eyes on a prominent former head coach that’s been the conference for more than a decade.

The Gamecocks are hoping to land Dan Mullen as their next play caller.

Rumors are taking over social media timelines of South Carolina’s interest in the former Florida coach. And it certainly fits the model of the Gamecocks hiring Gator retreads (Steve Spurrier, Will Muschamp). Ironically, Mullen’s time in Gainesville ended following a blowout loss to South Carolina in 2021.

Landing Mullen as an offensive coordinator would be a huge “get” for the Gamecocks as his play calling abilities have never been in question. His issues at Florida, and to some extent Mississippi State, revolved around recruiting. Still, he was able to win 63% of his games, get Mississippi State to No. 1 in the polls, and take Florida to the SEC Championship Game.

Additionally, having Shane Beamer at the helm would allow Mullen to focus on offense while possibly taking some of the recruiting responsibilities away from the coach.

The rumors began to pick up steam as they always do on social media and message boards.

Those hypotheticals have now led Gamecock fans to tracking flights from Columbia to Atlanta, where Mullen currently resides.

I’m not getting my hopes up as these rumors rarely seem to work out according to plan. Take those first two examples at Nebraska and Auburn as proof. Still, it’s given South Carolina fans even more reason to be excited following an excellent close to the season.

South Carolina proved they can play with the best by beating top ten teams Tennessee and Clemson on back-to-back weekends. Landing Dan Mullen on staff could vault the Gamecocks into the next level of the SEC.