James Coley to become South Carolina WRs coach, Stepp to shift roles, report says
The South Carolina wide receivers will be hearing from a new voice.
On Thursday, The Big Spur and 247Sports Brandon Marcello reported that James Coley will take over as the Gamecocks WRs coach.
Coley will be taking over for Justin Stepp, who has been the Gamecocks only wide receivers coach since Shane Beamer took over.
It is unclear what this move will mean for Stepp, whether he will transition to the TEs coach job left vacant after Jody Wright became Murray State’s head coach or if Stepp will find a job outside of Columbia. The Big Spur is reporting Stepp moving to tight ends coach.
South Carolina has a board of trustees meeting called for Friday at 4:30 p.m. to approve athletic contracts. It is expected that running backs coach also will be approved. Liberty’s Newland Isaac has emerged as the front-runner to take over Montario Hardesty’s job.
Coley comes to South Carolina after a recent three-year stint at Texas A&M, where he first served as the Aggies’ wide receivers coach become becoming their co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach.
Before that, Coley was one of coach Kirby Smart’s first hires when he took over the Georgia program. He was on staff with Beamer in 2016 and 2017, working as the wide receivers coach while Beamer coached tight ends and special teams.
After three seasons in Athens, Coley was promoted to the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator in 2019. Towards the end of that season, though, Coley was relieved of his play-calling duties in favor of Todd Monken.
A native of South Florida, Coley has been praised for bringing in top-tier talent from the Sunshine State. In his career, he has helped recruit a half-dozen five-star recruits from Florida, according to 247 Sports.
At South Carolina, Coley will be responsible for getting the most of a new-look wide receiver room. The Gamecocks lost their top pass catcher from 2023, Xavier Legette, along with Ahmarean Brown to the NFL Draft. They also saw five others — highlighted by Juice Wells — hit the transfer portal.
So far, South Carolina has added a trio of wide receivers through the transfer portal: Louisville transfer Ahmari Huggins-Bruce, Jared Brown of Coastal Carolina and Miami (OH) transfer Gage Larvadain
