South Carolina is set to hire longtime NFL special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, according to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

DeCamillis will replace the recently departed Pete Lembo, who left Columbia last week to take the head coaching job at Buffalo. DeCamillis will serve as the Gamecock’s new special teams coordinator after spending the 2023 season in the college ranks with Texas as a special assistant to the head coach. The entirety of his coaching career prior — which dates back to 1991 — has been spent in the NFL as a special teams coach.

A Wyoming graduate, DeCamillis began his career as an assistant special teams coach with the Denver Broncos in 1991.

He would serve as a special teams coach with the Giants (1993-96), Falcons (1997-2006), and Jaguars (2007-08) before getting his first coordinator job with the Dallas Cowboys in 2009.

DeCamillis spent four seasons in Texas before moving to Chicago to be the Bears’ special teams coordinator.

In 2015, he took over the same position with the Broncos and helped the team to a 24-10 win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. DeCamillis then returned to the Jaguars in 2017, where he spent the next four years coordinating their special teams.

In 2021, DeCamillis took a job on Sean McVay’s staff with the Los Angeles Rams. He would go on to help the Rams win Super Bowl LVI over the Cincinnati Bengals. He was dismissed on Jan. 18, 2023, following a 5-12 season.

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The Gamecocks’ special teams units were, by and large, a positive group in 2023. South Carolina had the 12th-best special teams rating in Bill Connelly’s SP+ model. The Gamecocks had a top-30 touchback rate on kickoffs, a top-20 field goal rate, and ranked inside the top 20 for average punt return yardage allowed. Lembo’s unit didn’t give up a return touchdown in either phase all year, and it returned a blocked punt for a score against Vanderbilt in November.