Orlando, FL – Lorenzo Ward has been named South Carolina's time defensive coordinator, head coach Steve Spurrier announced Tuesday.
The announcement only slightly changes the Gamecocks' staff. Ward was hired as defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach in 2009, but Ellis Johnson had been assistant head coach of defense. Tuesday's announcement puts Ward firmly in charge.
"We don't have an interim defensive coordinator any more, we have a full-time (coordinator)," said Spurrier. "Lorenzo Ward is our defensive coordinator here at South Carolina. He's the best guy I could hire. That's why I've hired him. He knows what we want to do. He and I think almost exactly alike defensively. We've talked a lot of defense over the last two or three years and he knows how to coach it and we agree on how to coach it. So he's going to be our guy, hopefully for several years, and he's certainly the full-time guy as we go through the bowl game and next year and so forth."
The Gamecocks will face Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl on January 2.
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