Shane Beamer fires South Carolina running backs coach Marquel Blackwell

South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer has fired running backs coach Marquel Blackwell, The Greenville News confirmed on Dec. 4.

Blackwell just finished his second season with the Gamecocks (4-8) and had the second-worst run game in the SEC, averaging 111.1 rushing yards. It was a major drop off from his first year in 2024 when his offense produced the fourth-best run game in the SEC with 184.4 rushing yards per game.

Blackwell is the third offensive coach Beamer has fired in the last two months. He fired offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley on Oct. 12 and offensive coordinator Mike Shula on Nov. 2. He hasn’t filled either of those positions.

The news surfaced a day after the start of the early signing period with the Gamecocks adding 12 players but not a running back. Beamer confirmed the Gamecocks won’t sign any out high school running backs for the second straight year.

Marquel Blackwell no longer with South Carolina

Rocket Sanders was a star in the run game for Blackwell last season, accumulating 881 yards which was the most since 2020 for the program.

This season the most a running back logged in a game was 83 and three different games, the leading rusher was quarterback LaNorris Sellers. Pro Football Focus graded South Carolina 51.2 for run blocking, which is 121st among 136 FBS teams.

Blackwell came to South Carolina after one season at Texas A&M, one season at Ole Miss and three at Houston. He also had previous stints at Toledo, West Virginia, Western Kentucky and USF.

Blackwell was USF’s starting quarterback for four years before signing with the New York Jets as a rookie free agent in 2003.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬