Earlier this season, former South Carolina tailback Marcus Lattimore retired from the NFL before ever recording a carry in the league.

Monday, the Gamecocks all-time leader in touchdowns announced his plans to come back to South Carolina to work with the football program and finish his degree.

According to a report by The State, Lattimore will return to Columbia this spring to continue work toward his degree in public health while also serving as an ambassador for the football program. The report states Lattimore’s official title with the team has yet to be determined, and added he plans to finish his degree in January 2016.

“There’s been some back-and-forth. I’ll most likely work with the university, coach (and athletic director Ray) Tanner, president (Harris) Pastides, coach (Steve) Spurrier, whatever they need me to do,” Lattimore told The State about his new position in the South Carolina athletic department.

Lattimore was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2013 NFL Draft, less than a year removed from the second major knee injury of his career. He spent all of last season and most of this season trying to recover from the injury and work himself back into game-shape, but on Nov. 5 he retired from the league without ever playing a down.

Following his retirement from the NFL, South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier said the program would welcome Lattimore back to Columbia if he wished to return.

“I told him he’s got a home back here in Columbia, the University of South Carolina, and he knows that,” Spurrier said after Lattimore retired last month. “He’s a wonderful young man and he’s coming back, hopefully soon, and maybe he can add a lot of inspiration to South Carolina like he did when he was a player here.”

Fans will always wonder what Lattimore might have accomplished had he been able to stay healthy throughout his career, but those same fans will be pleased to know his injury-shortened career has a happy ending after all.