‘Be physical’: Shawn Elliott setting an early standard for South Carolina’s tight ends

Shawn Elliott had a simple message to the South Carolina tight ends when he arrived on campus back in the winter — it’s time to toughen up.

Elliott was hired by Shane Beamer in February to be the Gamecocks’ tight end coach and run-game coordinator. The Camden native spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at South Carolina (2010-16) and was the Georgia State head coach for the past seven seasons.

“My message is we got to be physical,” Elliott told The State during the Birdies with Beamer golf event on Thursday. “We got to establish ourselves on the perimeter and blocking. We got to get in there and make our run game go and put a spark in that that hasn’t been there in quite some time.”

Elliott is definitely the type of coach to bring that spark out of him. He is known for firing up his players during pre-game warmups and videos of his antics have gone viral during his first stint at South Carolina and his time at head coach at Georgia State.

“I don’t know how our pregame routine is going to go and how much one-on-one time I will get with the tight ends, but somebody will probably get hit at some point,” Elliott said, laughing.

Jokes aside, Elliott definitely wants his tight ends to be a key part in the offense, whether it’s catching passes and blocking for new presumed starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers or opening up running lanes for the Gamecocks’ backs.

SC native Josh Simon and transfer Brady Hunt are the Gamecocks’ top options at the position. Simon, who is entering his sixth year of college football, is in his second season at USC after transferring from Western Kentucky.

Elliott said the 6-foot-4, 259-pound Simon, who caught 28 passes for 256 yards and two scores last season, definitely has NFL potential at the position.

Hunt gives the Gamecocks another veteran spot at the position. He began his career at quarterback but was moved to tight end when he arrived at Ball State, where he was a first-team all Mid-American Conference performer as a freshman.

Hunt, who got married this summer, missed last season with an ankle injury and transferred to USC in December.

Elliott said there’s a good chance you might see Simon and Hunt on the field at the same time in two-tight end sets known as 12 personnel. South Carolina ran two-tight end sets on 16.5% of its offensive snaps last season, according to SEC Statcat, but Elliott said 12 personnel is “the way to go.”

Connor Cox and Nick Elksnis are other names to watch for at the tight end spot.

“I stepped into a gold mine,” Elliott said of the tight end room. “They are easy to coach, and they want to be coached. I have asked them to become a lot more physical than they have been in the past, and I think we are going to have a good season out of that group.”