Former Alabama quarterback and head football coach Mike Shula will be promoted to offensive coordinator at South Carolina, according to a [report Tuesday](https://www.on3.com/teams/south-carolina-gamecocks/news/shane-beamer-closing-in-south-carolina-gamecocks-football-offensive-coordinator-hire/) by Gamecock Central of the On3 network.
The 59-year-old Shula spent the 2024 season as a senior offensive analyst for the Gamecocks. He would move into the offensive coordinator position vacated by Dowell Loggains, who was hired earlier this week as head coach at Appalachian State.
Shula played quarterback at Alabama in the mid-1980s and was the Crimson Tide’s head coach from 2003-06. He was fired after posting a 26-23 record, with Alabama hiring Nick Saban as his replacement.
Shula also spent more than two decades as an NFL assistant coach, including stints as offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers and New York Giants. With Carolina, he was credited with helping develop quarterback Cam Newton into the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2015, when the Panthers reached the Super Bowl.
Shula returned to Bryant-Denny Stadium as part of the South Carolina staff earlier this season, when Alabama beat the Gamecocks 27-25. Head coach Shane Beamer praised Shula’s contributions to the staff during the week leading up to the game.
“Low ego, humble, hardworking,” Beamer [said](https://www.al.com/alabamafootball/2024/10/mike-shula-prepares-for-alabama-football-return-with-south-carolina.html). “Everyone in the building thinks the world of him. He’s been awesome. Has helped us so much on and off the field.”
“He was the head coach at Alabama when I was an assistant coach at Mississippi State and I have known him for a long time. … So just an immense amount of respect for him as a coach in college and then him as a person.”
Shula also helped with the development this season of redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who emerged as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the SEC.
“He’s been a lot of help for me, just because he’s worked with guys like Josh Allen, Cam Newton,” Sellers told reporters in October. “Brings a lot to the table. Read option game, helping us protect ourselves, not only as a passer… Being patient and letting stuff develop.”