The University of South Carolina's board of trustees met on Thursday to approve the contract of Shawn Elliott, who was hired as the South Carolina football team's new tight ends coach and run game coordinator.
Elliott will replace Justin Stepp, who served as the team's wide receivers coach since 2021 but switched to tight ends this offseason. Stepp was hired as the wide receivers coach at the University of Illinois on Feb. 8.
Elliott will earn of a total base salary of $2.275 million over the course of his three-year contract, which runs to the end of the 2026 season. His contract includes the opportunity to earn up to $115,000 in bonuses if certain performance goals are met.
Elliott joins the staff from Georgia State, where he has been the head coach since 2017. He led the Panthers to a 7-6 record during the 2023 season, which included a victory in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
Prior to his time at Georgia State, Elliott was the offensive line coach at South Carolina from 2010 to 2016. During his stint with the Gamecocks, he also served as an interim head coach during the 2015 season. Elliott has been coaching at the collegiate level since 1997, when he became an assistant coach at Appalachian State.
Elliott's hire marks the fourth addition to South Carolina's coaching staff during this offseason. The team hired James Coley on Jan. 12 as the team's new wide receivers coach, Marquel Blackwell on Jan. 19 as the team's new running backs coach and Joe DeCamillis on Jan. 29 as the team's new associate head coach and special teams coordinator.