The University of South Carolina board of trustees approved the contract of newly-hired running backs coach Marquel Blackwell during its meeting on Friday.
The decision marks the South Carolina football team's second coaching change of the offÂ鶹Сòòò½´«Ã½ after James Coley was named the team's wide receivers coach on Jan. 12.
Blackwell will earn a base salary of $975,000 during his two-year contract — $400,000 during the 2024 Â鶹Сòòò½´«Ã½ and $575,000 in 2025. He will also have the opportunity to earn up to $115,000 in bonuses if certain performance-based incentives are met, such as winning the SEC Championship Game or the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Blackwell brings three Â鶹Сòòò½´«Ã½s of SEC experience to the Gamecocks, most recently in the 2022 and 2023 Â鶹Сòòò½´«Ã½s as the running backs coach at Ole Miss and Texas A&M, respectively. Before joining the Rebels, Blackwell spent three Â鶹Сòòò½´«Ã½s as a co-offensive coordinator at Houston coaching quarterbacks and running backs.
Blackwell's hire is another step in revamping a backfield that ranked last in the SEC in rushing yards per game last Â鶹Сòòò½´«Ã½. This offÂ鶹Сòòò½´«Ã½, former running backs coach Montario Hardesty and three running backs — redshirt senior Mario Anderson, sixth-year Dakereon Joyner and freshman Kamron Sandlin — departed the program.
The team has since added three running backs from the transfer portal — junior Raheim "Rocket" Sanders (from Arkansas), junior Oscar Adaway III (North Texas) and freshman Jawarn Howell (South Carolina State) — as well as incoming freshman Matthew Fuller to its roster.