Contracts approved for Gamecocks’ new coordinators. Two others receive raises
The University of South Carolina’s board of trustees approved a second round of coaching contracts for Gamecock football on Friday, locking in new coach Shane Beamer’s coordinators and granting raises to another pair of assistants.
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield and defensive coordinator Clayton White will both make $900,000 annually. Satterfield’s contract runs for two years, while White’s runs for three.
Meanwhile, running backs coach Des Kitchings and outside linebackers coach Mike Peterson both will see their pay bumped from $300,000 to $420,000 annually. Both coaches were retained from coach Will Muschamp’s staff and previously had their contracts extended through the end of 2022.
“They’re both excellent coaches ... and there’s no doubt that there’s probably schools that would be interested in them,” USC athletic director Ray Tanner told The State when asked if other job opportunities led to the raises. “We also felt they were deserving, and they were guys that stayed with coach Beamer during his transition.”
Two other coaches initially retained from the previous staff, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, have departed for jobs at Auburn.
Also on Friday, newly hired defensive backs coach Torrian Gray received a three-year deal, starting at $350,000 the first year, rising to $475,000 in the second and closing at $500,000 in the final year. Gray comes to South Carolina from Florida, but he also has ties to Beamer dating back more than 20 years when they were college teammates at Virginia Tech. They also coached alongside each other at VT.
New strength and conditioning coach Luke Day received a two-year, $400,000 deal.
The coordinators’ salaries approved Friday represent a slight decline from South Carolina’s previous spending. In 2020, the Gamecocks were one of six SEC programs to spend more than $1 million on two assistants, with Bobo and Travaris Robinson each making $1.2 million.
“It’s not a reduction in spending, it’s just a conversation that coach Beamer and I had,” Tanner told The State. “And he discussed that with the coaches, so it’s not any reason for a particular number.”
The deals do likely mark a significant raise for both coaches. Satterfield and White have not held a Power 5 coordinator position before. Satterfield comes to USC after a season in the NFL as an assistant offensive line coach, while White was the defensive coordinator at Western Kentucky.
At WKU, White was given a raise to $295,008 in May 2020. He spent four years there, where he was nominated three times (2017, 2019, 2020) for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach. He had previous stops as a position coach at Western Carolina, Western Michigan, Stanford, Connecticut and N.C. State.
Details on Satterfield’s contract with the Carolina Panthers are not public. But he does have offensive coordinator experience at Temple and Chattanooga, as well as head coaching experience at Tennessee Tech — according to public records, he made $195,000 in that position. On the Power 5 level, he spent two years at Baylor, one as a director of recruiting, one as tight ends coach.
Friday’s meeting marks the second time the board of trustees have met to approve contract details for Beamer’s staff. Two weeks ago, they gave the OK on eight deals.
Since then, however, three of the coaches who had contracts approved — Bobo, Rocker and offensive line coach Will Friend — have left USC for jobs at Auburn. The State has confirmed that only one, Friend, signed the term sheet of those new deals.
Assuming no other departures, Beamer now has two assistants left to hire at offensive and defensive line. At the moment, South Carolina has committed $3.9 million to assistants. According to USA Today’s assistant coaching contract database, USC was set to spend $5.28 million on assistants in 2020 before COVID-19 related cuts reduced that total to $5,095,792 on assistants.
Beamer’s own contract is for five years, with a guaranteed $2.75 million per year. On top of that, he can earn performance bonuses, including $100,000 for making a bowl, $200,000 for making the SEC title game and $1 million for winning a national championship. His new assistants’ contracts contain smaller performance incentives, including $20,000 each for a bowl game appearance and $25,000 for an SEC championship game appearance.
USC FOOTBALL ASSISTANT SALARY COMPARISONS
Offensive coordinator/QBs coach
2020: Mike Bobo — $1.2 million
2021: Marcus Satterfield — $900,000
Running backs coach
2020: Des Kitchings — $300,000
2021: Des Kitchings — $420,000
Wide receivers coach
2020: Joe Cox — $180,000
2021: Justin Stepp — $460,000
Tight ends coach
2020: Bobby Bentley — $400,000
2021: Erik Kimrey — $200,000
Offensive line coach
2020: Eric Wolford — $700,000
2021: NO COACH HIRED
Defensive coordinator
2020: Travaris Robinson — $1.2 million
2021: Clayton White — $900,000
Defensive line coach
2020: Tracy Rocker — $525,000
2021: NO COACH HIRED
Outside linebackers coach
2020: Mike Peterson — $300,000
2021: Mike Peterson — $420,000
Defensive assistant coach
2020: Rod Wilson (linebackers) — $275,000
2021: Torrian Gray (defensive backs) — $350,000
Special teams coordinator
2020: Kyle Krantz — $200,000
2021: Pete Lembo — $450,000
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 9:28 AM with the headline "Contracts approved for Gamecocks’ new coordinators. Two others receive raises."
