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OPINION: Where Does South Carolina's Coaching Staff Rank In The SEC?

South Carolina's Football staff has done well in their first two years in Columbia, but how do they stack up compared to their SEC counterparts?
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When people, both regionally and nationally, look at what Shane Beamer and his coaching staff have accomplished over the past two years in Columbia, there's no question that the staff has elevated South Carolina's Football program in multiple facets, especially considering what they inherited. What's made Shane Beamer's rebuild all the more impressive is that it's taken place in the SEC, undoubtedly the toughest conference in all of college football.

While Shane Beamer and his staff have done well to this point, what makes the SEC such a meat grinder is the fact that most teams possess at least one high-level coordinator and or one of the better head coaches in the country. To get an idea of where Shane Beamer and his two coordinators in Dowell Loggains and Clayton White rank in the SEC, I gave each SEC head coach and coordinator a letter grade based on their résumé and allotted a specific amount of points in each category, combining for one final score. The lower the score, the better, and vice versa.

Due to the year-to-year volatility in special teams metrics and how the majority of the sport treats that unit, I didn't include this in my calculations. However, if included, Pete Lembo would make South Carolina's ranking look much better.

Personal SEC Coaching Rankings

1) LSU

2) Georgia

3) Kentucky

4) Tennessee

5) Alabama

6) Ole Miss

7) Texas A&M

T-8) Arkansas

T-8) Auburn

10) South Carolina

11) Florida

12) Missouri

13) Vanderbilt

14) Mississippi State

While I had Shane Beamer ranked in the top half of the SEC when it came to grading head coaches, I put each of the Gamecocks' coordinators right in the middle of the pack since Dowell Loggains is going into his first year as a college coordinator and Clayton White has witnessed some inconsistencies with his unit. I also feel that the gap between Texas A&M's and South Carolina's coaching staff is relatively narrow, as I had only a four-point difference between both programs in my calculations.

Overall, South Carolina being slotted tenth in my personal SEC coaching rankings isn't meant at all as a slight, but more so a compliment to just how deep the conference truly is when it comes to coaching talent, as they would be much higher in most other leagues.

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