South Carolina football has added a former NFL Pro Bowler to its coaching staff.
Dre Bly, who spent 11 seasons in the NFL as a standout cornerback for, mainly the St. Louis Rams and Detroit Lions, has been added to the Gamecocks’ staff as a “defensive assistant.”
A North Carolina alum whose time as a Tar Heel landed him in the College Football Hall of Fame, Bly was the Rams’ second-round selection in the 1999 draft, integral to St. Louis’ Super Bowl victory in his rookie season. With the Rams trailing in fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game, Bly picked off a pass at midfield, setting up Kurt Warner’s game-winning touchdown pass.
He finished his NFL career with 484 tackles, 20 forced fumbles and 43 interceptions, twice making the Pro Bowl while earning All-Pro honors in 2003.
He began coaching in 2019, spending four seasons as the cornerbacks coach for his alma mater at UNC before becoming the Detroit Lions’ CBs coach in 2023. Over the past two seasons, he worked as a defensive analyst for Charlotte and an assistant DBs coach for the New York Jets, respectively.
It’s unclear how exactly he landed in Columbia, but Bly was teammates with South Carolina wide receivers coach Mike Furrey with the Detroit Lions in 2006.