Temple head coach Stan Drayton looks on against the Miami Hurricanes in the first half at Lincoln Financial Field on September 23, 2023. According to reports, Drayton will be the new running backs coach at South Carolina.
Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
South Carolina football’s 4-8 season led to head coach Shane Beamer firing three of his assistants. Tomorrow, their replacements will be officially named.
USC is set to hire TCU offensive coordinator Kendal Briles and offensive line coach Randy Clements as well as Penn State running backs coach Stan Drayton on Thursday morning, according to multiple reports.
The USC Board of Trustees announced Wednesday that a meeting would be held Thursday at 9 a.m. The only item on the agenda is “Approval of Athletics Personnel Contracts.”
On3’s Pete Thamel initially reported USC was finalizing a deal with Briles, and On3’s Pete Nakos reported Drayton was Beamer’s RBs coach target. CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reported Clements was also expected to be approved Thursday.
GamecockCentral’s Chris Clark said he expected all three coaches would be approved at Thursday’s board of trustees meeting.
North Carolina offensive line coach Randy Clements works with his players during the Tar Heels’ practice on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Robert Willett rwillett@newsobserver.com
Briles and Clements will come to Columbia from Fort Worth, where they worked for Sonny Dykes and TCU. Briles had been there since 2023 (when then-TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley was poached by Clemson), and Clements joined the TCU staff ahead of the 2025 season after a staff change at UNC.
Briles and Clements had previously worked together as assistants at Baylor.
Drayton was on James Franklin’s Penn State staff as running backs coach in 2025 but was in flux after Franklin was fired and the school brought in Iowa State coach Matt Campbell last week. Drayton was formerly the head coach at Temple and went 9-25 before being fired midway through his third season at the American Conference school in Philadelphia last fall.
Briles will replace Mike Shula, Clements will replace Lonnie Teasley and Drayton will replace Marquel Blackwell. Beamer fired Teasley and Shula during the back half of the 2025 season, and he fired Blackwell in December shortly after the season.
This story was originally published December 10, 2025 at 10:05 AM.
Jackson Castellano
The State
Jackson Castellano is The State’s college sports intern covering South Carolina men’s basketball. A Cape Coral, Florida, native, he is an alum of the University of Florida.
