With Shawn Elliott now the head coach at Georgia State, the Gamecocks are down an offensive line coach heading into the Birmingham Bowl against USF.

South Carolina coach Will Muschamp is turning to John Latina, an experienced coaching veteran, to help out in the short term.

“In the meantime, for the bowl game only, John Latina is going to coach our offensive line,” Muschamp announced. “(Has) history with Kurt Roper at Mississippi and at Duke University, and he’s a guy that I’ve got tremendous respect for in this profession. Being the defensive coordinator at LSU and going against Ole Miss for all those years, they were extremely well-coached and fundamental.

“He’s been out this fall, and I feel like the secondary and offensive line are two positions (along with) quarterback, three positions that you better have somebody that’s coached the position and understands what they’re doing. You can’t just fit somebody in there and hope it goes well. John’s experience of over 30 years, 37 years to be exact, we’re going to enjoy helping us through the bowl game.

Latina spent the 2012-15 seasons at Duke, coaching alongside South Carolina offensive coordinator Kurt Roper those first two seasons, before retiring in February of this year.

Muschamp said he’s not in a hurry to name a permanent replacement for Elliott.

“I will not hire an offensive line coach until after the first of the year,” he said. “We want to be sure to do our due diligence to hire the best person for us. There’s no reason to rush into anything.”