It's official: Shawn Elliott returns home to South Carolina
Shawn Elliott’s return to South Carolina is official.
The University’s Board of Trustee’s governance committee approved a three-year contract Friday morning to make the former Georgia State head coach the Gamecocks’ new tight ends coach and run game coordinator. Elliott will make $750,000 in the first two years and $775,000 in Year 3 of the deal which also includes incentives.
South Carolina will also pay Georgia State $150,000 on Elliott’s behalf to be applied to his buyout.
GamecockCentral first reported the move on Thursday morning.
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A Camden, S.C. native who still lives in Columbia, S.C., Elliott spent the last seven seasons at Georgia State before resigning on Thursday.
Elliott will take over the position group for Justin Stepp, who left to coach wide receivers at Illinois after being shifted to the tight end room this offseason. Jody Wright, now the head coach at Murray State, coached the tight ends for the past two seasons for the Gamecocks.
During his first time at South Carolina, Elliott was part of the program’s best run in school history. He was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator from 2010 until 2011, with the Gamecocks turning in an SEC title game appearance in the first year. Elliott carried a co-offensive coordinator designation from 2012 until 2015.
South Carolina went 33-6 with Elliott on staff between 2011 and 2013. When Steve Spurrier stepped down in the middle of the 2015 season, Elliott was named as the team’s interim head coach.
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Elliott, a long-time offensive line coach, built the Georgia State program by establishing one of the nation’s most productive rushing attacks. Over the last five seasons, the Panthers averaged 214 yards rushing per game.
During his tenure in Atlanta, Elliott posted GSU’s first winning season as an FBS program in 2017. He logged the school’s first consecutive winning seasons and three-straight bowl berths from 2019-21, culminating with a school-record eight wins in 2021. He pulled a stunning upset in 2019 with a win at Tennessee for the program’s first Power 5 win, earning him Dodd Trophy National Coach of the Week honors, and engineered the school’s first win over a ranked opponent with a win at No. 21 Coastal Carolina in 2021.
Elliott originally joined the South Carolina staff in 2010 and helped the Gamecocks reach five-straight bowl games while coaching some of the most prolific and balanced offenses in school history. The Gamecocks turned in the program’s best offensive season, statistically, in 2013, averaging 34.1 points while rolling up a school-record 452.3 yards per game.
South Carolina’s 2014 unit scored nearly 33 points per game while averaging over 440 yards of offense as All-America and All-Southeastern Conference offensive guard A.J. Cann paved the way. In 2010, Elliott’s first season in Columbia, his offensive line blocked for record-setting running back Marcus Lattimore, the National Freshman of the Year.
In addition to Cann, a third-round draft pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2015, Elliott developed future NFL linemen Corey Robinson, Ronald Patrick, Brandon Shell, T.J. Johnson and Rokevious Watkins.
Before coming to South Carolina in 2010, Elliott coached his entire career at Appalachian State, his alma mater. In 13 seasons, he was an integral part of App State’s three consecutive NCAA titles from 2005-07 and the Mountaineers’ historic upset at Michigan in 2007.
Beginning in 1997, he worked two seasons as a defensive assistant (1997-98) and then two seasons as the tight ends coach (1999-00) before taking over the offensive line in 2001.
In nine seasons as the Mountaineers’ offensive line coach, Elliott’s players earned All-America distinction on 12 occasions, including four different linemen who received first-team All-America accolades. He also coached All-American and future NFL tight end Daniel Wilcox in 2000. In 2003, offensive lineman Wayne Smith was the first pick in the Canadian Football League Draft. From 2005- 07, Elliott coached three-consecutive Southern Conference Jacobs Blocking Trophy recipients.
Elliott helped lead the Mountaineers to 10 NCAA playoff berths in 13 seasons with two trips to the national semifinals and three appearances in the quarterfinals in addition to the three championships.
He was one of three App State coaches to earn the NCAA’s Award of Valor for their efforts in rescuing two individuals from an automobile accident in 2000.
The two head coaches under whom Elliott spent the bulk of his time as an assistant coach, Spurrier at South Carolina, and Jerry Moore at Appalachian State, are both enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Elliott was the first player in Mountaineer annals to appear in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs four separate seasons. He was a four-year letterwinner, helping the Mountaineers to two Southern Conference titles and a combined record of 36-16. He served as a co-captain of the 1995 Appalachian State squad that finished 12-1 while earning all-league distinction as a defensive end.
Born June 26, 1973, Elliott earned his bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State in 1996. He is married to the former Summer Scruggs, also an App State grad and a standout tennis player for the Mountaineers, and the couple has two children, Maddyn and Max.
SOUTH CAROLINA 2024 FOOTBALL COACHING STAFF
Shane Beamer, Head Coach (4th year; Virginia Tech, 1999)
Dowell Loggains, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach (2nd year; Arkansas, 2003)
Clayton White, Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach (4th year; NC State, 2001)
Joe DeCamillis, Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator (1st year; Wyoming, 1988)
Shawn Elliott, Run Game Coordinator/Tight Ends Coach (1st year; Appalachian State, 1996)
Marquel Blackwell, Running Backs Coach (1st year; USF, 2002)
James Coley, Wide Receivers Coach (1st year; Florida State, 1997)
Torrian Gray, Defensive Backs Coach (4th year; Virginia Tech, 1999)
Sterling Lucas, Outside Linebackers/Defensive Ends Coach (3rd year; NC State, 2012)
Travian Robertson, Defensive Line Coach (2nd year; South Carolina, 2011)
Lonnie Teasley, Offensive Line Coach (2nd year; Winston-Salem State, 2008)
USC MEDIA RELATIONS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT
