South Carolina closing in on Kendal Briles hire? The latest we're hearing

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer is closing in on hiring TCU’s Kendal Briles as his next offensive coordinator, though the process isn’t quite complete.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Monday night that the Gamecocks are “finalizing a deal to hire TCU’s Kendal Briles as the school’s new offensive coordinator and that an agreement is expected to come together in the near future.”

Join GamecockCentral now for $1 and enjoy a complimentary year of The Athletic – included with your membership.

South Carolina sources told GamecockCentral on Monday night that the two parties are getting closer, but a deal has not yet been finalized as of 9:35 p.m. ET.

Those same sources indicated that Beamer wants to hire Briles and Briles wants to be in Columbia. The two sides are still working through specifics, though.

Briles emerged as the frontrunner for the vacant position over the weekend and GamecockCentral reported then that the hope was the process would be completed by Monday or Tuesday.

Assuming the deal gets done, Briles will replace Mike Shula, who was dismissed following the Gamecocks’ loss to Ole Miss during this season.

South Carolina’s offense struggled during the 2025 campaign, ranking 102nd in scoring offense, 105th in total offense, 118th in rushing offense, and 125th in third down conversion percentage.

Briles spent the past three seasons, including 2025, at TCU. He has also served as the offensive coordinator at Arkansas (2020-2022), Florida State (2019), Houston (2018), Florida Atlantic (2017), and Baylor (2015-2016). He was a former player at both Texas and Houston.

Beamer is tabbing a coach in Briles who has a track record in improving offenses after taking the helm.

At TCU, Briles’ first season saw an uptick in total offense from the previous season. In his first year at Arkansas, the Razorbacks improved dramatically in both yardage output and scoring. That was also the case at Florida State. From 2017 (without Briles) to 2018 (with Briles), Houston added about 15 points per game and 90 yards per game to its season average. Nearly identical improvements came at Florida Atlantic, as well.

The former Broyles Award finalist has also worked under vaunted offensive head coaches Art Briles, Lane Kiffin, and Sonny Dykes.

At Arkansas, he oversaw one of the most prolific rushing attacks in the country, highlighted by running back Rocket Sanders. Sanders, of course, went on to transfer to South Carolina.

Briles’ most recent coaching stop at TCU was a successful one—it is worth noting, too, that he crossed paths with current South Carolina AD Jeremiah Donati in Fort Worth, while the latter was the athletic director for the Horned Frogs.

In 2024, under Briles’ tutelage, TCU quarterback Josh Hoover set the school’s single-season record for passing yards. The Horned Frogs finished 31st nationally in total offense each of the past two seasons. They were 11th nationally during the 2023 campaign.

Briles’ offenses have been among college football’s top 10 in passing offense the last three seasons, too.

The deal appears to be trending towards being finalized, but again is not quite there yet.

GamecockCentral’s Chris Clark contributed to this story.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina football!