The official appointment of a new wide receivers coach by South Carolina

February 29, 2024 Sports Gist NFL, Other Sports 0

The official appointment of a new wide receivers coach by South Carolina

South Carolina has hired the former eight-year NFL veteran and current sitting head coach to replace James Coley, who left the program last week.

The South Carolina football coaching staff is set to be complete again. Limestone University head football coach Mike Furrey had his contract approved by the Board of Trustees and named the new wide receivers coach for the Gamecocks.

Furrey has been given a two-year contract by the school and will be paid $425,000 per year.

Furrey was the head coach at Limestone, located in Gaffney, for two separate stints. He led the program in 2016 and 2017 and put together a 9-12 record before leaving to become the wide receivers coach of the Chicago Bears in 2018. He spent four seasons in the NFL with the Bears before coming back to Limestone where he spent the two previous seasons.

In his second stint with the Saints, he led the team to an 8-4 record in each season and tied for first place in the Piedmont division of the South Atlantic Conference at the Division II level. Limestone would advance to the Division II playoffs in each of his last two years.

Furrey began his college playing career at Ohio State where he spent one season before transferring to Northern Iowa becoming a three-time All-American. He went undrafted in 2000, but signed a free agent deal with the Indianapolis Colts. After not making the team, he spent a year in the XFL then two more in the Arena Football League before getting another NFL shot.

Furrey, a 6-foot, 195-pounder in his playing days, spent seven total seasons spread between the St. Louis Rams, Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns and totaled 221 catches for 2,298 yards and seven touchdowns. He was a member of the Washington Redskins’ practice squad in 2010 before entering into coaching.

His best season as a professional came during the 2006 season with the Lions when he led the NFC with 98 receptions to go with 1,086 yards and seven touchdowns. His 98 catches that season set an NFL record for most receptions in a season after having none the previous year, according to his Limestone University bio.

During his playing days, Furrey was twice nominated for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award and was a finalist for it in 2009 while with the Browns. He won the 2009 JB Award, an accolade given to those who specialize in community service by then CBS studio host James Brown. He was also selected as the 2009 NFL Ed Block Courage Award recipient, an honor that highlights courage, compassion, commitment, and community service.

Furrey began his career as a college coach in 2011 at Kentucky Christian where he was head coach for two seasons. He left that position to become the wide receivers coach at Marshall for three years before joining Limestone for the first time.

The offseason has been an eventful one in general for Beamer and his staff of assistant coaches, but particularly at the wide receiver position. He shifted Justin Stepp from wide receiver coach, where he spent all three seasons since Beamer’s hire, to tight ends coach. Former Texas A&M assistant James Coley was hired to replace Stepp, who left shortly thereafter to take the wide receiver coach position at Illinois. Coley, after 44 days on the job, left last week to take the same position at Georgia.

This offseason, fourth-year head coach Shane Beamer hired Joe DeCamillis as special teams coordinator after Pete Lembo left to become head coach at Buffalo; Shawn Elliott was hired as tight ends coach to replace Stepp and Marquel Blackwell was brought in to replace Montario Hardesty as running backs coach.

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