New Names Surface for Vacant USC Coaching Jobs

Per AM-560 The Team in Columbia, two names, Air Force’s Des Kitchings & Wake Forest’s Lonnie Galloway, have crept towards the top of the board to replace former Gamecocks RB Coach Jay Graham, who left for Tennessee last month.

Des Kitchings, former Furman football player, is the current RB Coach/Run Game Coordinator at Air Force. Kitchings is a native of Wagner, SC and played his college ball at Furman University. Kitchings coached at Furman from 2004-2007, where he coached special teams and tight ends. Kitchings moved from Furman over to Bobby Johnson’s staff at Vanderbilt from 2008-2010, where he served as RB Coach from 2008-2010 and Offensive Coordinator in 2010. 2011 was his first year at Air Force, where he served as RB Coach/Run Game Coordinator. Kitchings recruited a couple of solid prospects at Vanderbilt in RB Warren Norman and Safety Kenneth Ladler.

Lonnie Galloway, former Western Carolina football player, is the current Co-Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach at Wake Forest University. Galloway is a native of Eden, NC. Galloway coached three seasons with current USC Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator Shawn Elliott at Appalachian State University. After his coaching stint in Boone, NC, Galloway headed to West Virginia University, where he coached for three years as the Co-Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach for the Mountaineers. Galloway was the only ex-Bill Stewart coaching assistant that current WVU Head Coach Dana Holgerson asked to remain on the Mountaineers football staff, but when the opportunity arose in Winston-Salem, NC it was a chance to get back closer to home. During his time at WVU, Galloway recruited several key current Mountaineers players like four-star prospects WR Tevon Austin (still scoring on Clemson), DE Bruce Irvin (multiple sacks of Tajh Boyd), WR Ivan McCartney, DB Wayne Lyons and DB Jonathon Scott.

Remember, the RB Coach position on Steve Spurrier’s staff is a crucial recruiting position. When Jay Graham left, the Gamecocks were devoid of a strong recruiting presence in the Tarheel state. Either of these candidates would be strong recruiting additions to the staff and now, with three positions open on the staff, maybe both could be options, because Kitchings does have Special Teams coaching experience from his time at Furman and Vanderbilt.

Go Gamecocks!