Who is tight ends coach Ben Burress?

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer made the decision Sunday to part ways with offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley, sliding tight ends coach and running game coordinator Shawn Elliott over in his place.

With Elliott’s move back to the o-line, a position he coached with the Gamecocks from 2010-16, pass game specialist Ben Burress will primarily be the tight ends coach for the rest of the season, though he’ll also have help from others.

“That’ll be a combination of Shawn can still be involved in some ways, because the tight ends and the offensive line work together so well from a run game standpoint, and even in protection,” Beamer said Sunday during his teleconference. “So there’ll be times where they can meet together, and then Ben Burress will take a more active role with them. Ben has experience. He’s been with the Carolina Panthers, has been with the New York Giants. He’s been a great addition to our staff.”

Who exactly is Burress?

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He joined the program this January as part of the transition from Dowell Loggains’ offensive staff to Mike Shula’s after spending 10 seasons in the NFL.

Burress will be as familiar as anyone with the program as he’s a Sumter, S.C. native and 2012 University of South Carolina graduate.

Before arriving back in Columbia, Burress spent the last six with the New York Giants, most recently as the team’s defensive assistant after spending three seasons as the football data & innovation research analyst. He joined the franchise in 2019 as an assistant to the coaching staff/offense.

Burress spent 2018 as assistant to the head coach with the Arizona Cardinals after four seasons with the Carolina Panthers, including three seasons as an offensive and football operations assistant with Shula.

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During that time, Burress assisted Carolina’s offensive coaching staff with day-to-day activities including breaking down opponent film, working on practice scripts, weekly scouting reports, and assisting on the field with the scout team secondary, according to his bio. He also worked with the Panthers’ college scouts by coordinating workouts and meetings with college draft prospects.

Prior to joining the Panthers, Burress worked for three years at Furman University, the final two seasons as the assistant director of football operations/video coordinator. He began his tenure with the Paladins’ program as an intern.

In his return to the Palmetto State this year, Burress has been highly involved with many aspects of the offense.

“He was working closely with Mike Furrey and the receivers,” Beamer continued. “So Ben’s going to be more involved with the tight ends, along with Todd Haynie, who’s a young student assistant that we have that’s worked with those guys, but Shawn will still be involved with those guys. Ben will be primarily the tight ends coach, so to speak, and then we’re fortunate that we’ve got some veteran guys in there, like Brady Hunt and Jordan Dingle, that know what needs to be done.”

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