Once Bryan McClendon was demoted from his position as South Carolina’s offensive coordinator and moved back to receivers coach this offseason, this move felt inevitable.

After waiting it out a few months, which included an attempt to land a position job with the Pittsburgh Steelers, McClendon is finally leaving Columbia for the Oregon Ducks, according to multiple reports.

The news was first reported on Thursday evening by the host of the Locked on Gamecocks Podcast, Keith Allsep.

Don’t expect Will Muschamp to have an opening on his coaching staff for long, however, as former NC State running backs coach Des Kitchings is expected to be hired by the Gamecocks to coach running backs next season. Kitchings was previously interviewed by South Carolina for the open running backs coaching position after Thomas Brown was hired away this offseason by the Los Angeles Rams.

The hire of Kitchings to coach the program’s running backs coach moves Bobby Bentley back to tight ends coach with Joe Cox shifting over to the open receivers coach position.

Heading into the 2020 season, South Carolina will now have a new offensive coordinator (Mike Bobo), receivers coach, running backs coach, defensive line coach (Tracy Rocker) and inside linebackers coach (Rod Wilson).