Two Gamecock assistant coaches are ranked among the best in SEC
July 17, 2023
247Sports released its first-ever preseason All-SEC coaching staff for 2023 and named Gamecocks special teams coach Pete Lembo and defensive backs coach Torrian Gray to the publication’s first-team list. To make the coach selections, 247Sports says it used a formula and grading system from Matrix Analytical Solutions that’s similar to what Pro Football Focus uses to grade players. According to 247Sports: “Position coaches are ‘graded on the cumulative play-by-play effectiveness of their unit.’ Coordinators are graded on per-play efficiency. Head coaches are ‘graded on their win and loss records broken down and weighted by difficulty/importance in nine distinct categories ranging from expected close margin games to how they perform in games with equivalent talent profiles.”
Coaches must have four years of experience to be on the list, and grades are only for on-field results (and not related to recruiting value). Lembo earned an 82.54 ranking, or 4.5 stars, from the 247Sports’ formula, as a first-team special teams coordinator in the SEC. The former Ball State and Elon head coach raised the Gamecocks unit to national prominence along with Shane Beamer. the Gamecocks ranked No. 1 last season in ESPN’s special teams efficiency ranking.
Special teams coach Pete Lembo
The Gamecocks in 2022 were fourth nationally in punt returns, fifth in kickoff returns, and seventh in net punting. Gamecock punter Kai Kroeger was first-team All-SEC and named to All-American teams by ESPN.com and The Athletic.
Lembo was a finalist for Broyles Award for Assistant Coach of the Year and also was Phil Steele’s Special Teams Coach of the Year.
Defensive backs coach Torrian Gray
Gray earned an 80.45 ranking or 4.5 stars. He has coached in the NFL and in college during his 11 seasons in the business. Two of his USC players, Cam Smith and Darius Rush, were taken in this year’s NFL Draft. In 2021 under Gray, the Gamecocks gave up 180.8 yards per game through the air, the lowest total since 2011. The Gamecocks were first in the SEC and seventh in the nation in passing yards allowed per game that season. The Gamecocks intercepted 15 passes, tying for second in the SEC lead and tied for 14th in the country. Jaylan Foster earned All-American honors in 2021.
Other notes
Alabama’s Nick Saban was 247Sports’ first-team head coach, and Georgia’s Kirby Smart was on the second team. Former Gamecock head coach Will Muschamp, who is now at Georgia, was named second-team defensive backs coach.
July 17, 2023
247Sports released its first-ever preseason All-SEC coaching staff for 2023 and named Gamecocks special teams coach Pete Lembo and defensive backs coach Torrian Gray to the publication’s first-team list. To make the coach selections, 247Sports says it used a formula and grading system from Matrix Analytical Solutions that’s similar to what Pro Football Focus uses to grade players. According to 247Sports: “Position coaches are ‘graded on the cumulative play-by-play effectiveness of their unit.’ Coordinators are graded on per-play efficiency. Head coaches are ‘graded on their win and loss records broken down and weighted by difficulty/importance in nine distinct categories ranging from expected close margin games to how they perform in games with equivalent talent profiles.”
Coaches must have four years of experience to be on the list, and grades are only for on-field results (and not related to recruiting value). Lembo earned an 82.54 ranking, or 4.5 stars, from the 247Sports’ formula, as a first-team special teams coordinator in the SEC. The former Ball State and Elon head coach raised the Gamecocks unit to national prominence along with Shane Beamer. the Gamecocks ranked No. 1 last season in ESPN’s special teams efficiency ranking.
Special teams coach Pete Lembo
The Gamecocks in 2022 were fourth nationally in punt returns, fifth in kickoff returns, and seventh in net punting. Gamecock punter Kai Kroeger was first-team All-SEC and named to All-American teams by ESPN.com and The Athletic.
Lembo was a finalist for Broyles Award for Assistant Coach of the Year and also was Phil Steele’s Special Teams Coach of the Year.
Defensive backs coach Torrian Gray
Gray earned an 80.45 ranking or 4.5 stars. He has coached in the NFL and in college during his 11 seasons in the business. Two of his USC players, Cam Smith and Darius Rush, were taken in this year’s NFL Draft. In 2021 under Gray, the Gamecocks gave up 180.8 yards per game through the air, the lowest total since 2011. The Gamecocks were first in the SEC and seventh in the nation in passing yards allowed per game that season. The Gamecocks intercepted 15 passes, tying for second in the SEC lead and tied for 14th in the country. Jaylan Foster earned All-American honors in 2021.
Other notes
Alabama’s Nick Saban was 247Sports’ first-team head coach, and Georgia’s Kirby Smart was on the second team. Former Gamecock head coach Will Muschamp, who is now at Georgia, was named second-team defensive backs coach.
