New South Carolina coach Shane Beamer is beginning to build his staff with the Gamecocks and has reportedly made a hire to coach the offensive line.

Tennessee offensive line coach Will Friend, who has spent the last three seasons in Knoxville on Jeremy Pruitt’s staff, is expected to join the Gamecocks, sources told Football Scoop. It is unclear if interim coach and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo would remain on staff, but he coached with Friend at Colorado State and Georgia. Bobo signed a two-year deal worth $1.2 million per last December and has one year remaining on his deal.

Former OL coach Eric Wolford has left to coach the same position at Kentucky.

The report noted that when Bobo landed the head coaching job at Colorado State in 2015, Friend was the first guy he brought to Fort Collins with the title of offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the Rams.

Friend was a four-year starter and two-time All-SEC guard at Alabama from 1993-97.

In addition to those earlier coaching stops, other coaching jobs have taken Friend to UAB, Gardner-Webb, and West Alabama throughout his career.

With South Carolina set to play in the Gasparilla Bowl on Saturday against UAB, look for more Beamer hires to be reported and announced in the coming days.