Krantz Named Tenth Assistant Coach; Lattimore Joins Staff in Off-Field Role

Jan. 12, 2018

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – University of South Carolina head football coach Will Muschamp has promoted Kyle Krantz into the newly-created tenth on-field assistant coaching position, and has named former Gamecock standout Marcus Lattimore as the Director of Player Development – Life Skills and the Beyond Football program, it was announced today.

As a full-time on-field assistant coach, Krantz will serve as the special teams assistant and will coach the Nickels and the Sam linebackers.

Krantz owns nine years of coaching experience, including seven seasons in the SEC as part of three different programs. He has spent the past two years as a defensive analyst for the Gamecocks.

“Kyle has been with me for the past five years and thinks like we do,” said Coach Muschamp. “He has a coordinator’s mentality and is an outstanding young coach.”

A 2009 graduate of the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in sociology, Krantz began his career as a student assistant for the defense at UNC from 2007-08 before becoming the linebackers coach at his alma mater from 2009-10. During the summer of 2011, he worked as an offensive quality control volunteer at Northwestern.

Krantz joined the Kentucky staff just prior to the start of the 2011 season, serving as a graduate assistant for the Wildcats. After two seasons in Lexington, he moved on to the University of Florida, where he was placed in charge of quality control for the offense in 2013, working primarily with the wide receivers, and for the defense in 2014, working with the defensive backs under Coach Muschamp.

Krantz spent the 2015 season as a defensive analyst on Gus Malzahn’s staff at Auburn, working again with Coach Muschamp and secondary coach Travaris Robinson, before reuniting with Muschamp and Robinson in Columbia.

Krantz is married to the former Brittany Hauck.

Lattimore, 26, is one of the most beloved Gamecocks to don the Garnet and Black. After one of the most decorated careers in South Carolina high school football history, the Duncan, S.C., native burst onto the scene in 2010 when he rushed for 1,197 yards, leading the Gamecocks to their first SEC Eastern Division title and earning SEC Freshman of the Year accolades. His sophomore and junior seasons were abbreviated after sustaining major knee injuries. Despite his limited time on the field, he set the school record for career rushing touchdowns with 38, while ranking sixth in school history with 2,677 career rushing yards.

“There’s no better Gamecock than Marcus Lattimore,” said Coach Muschamp. “As a standout high school player, he could have gone anywhere, but chose to stay home and play for his state’s flagship university. No one will be able to relate to our players about dealing with success and facing diversity more than Marcus. He will be a great addition to our program.”

Despite the knee injuries, Lattimore was a fourth-round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers, but never played in an NFL game.

He is the founder of the Marcus Lattimore Foundation, which is committed to the youth and initiatives which emphasize Christian values, character, life-skills development, education, and health and wellness in South Carolina, and has most recently served as the head football coach at Heathwood Hall prep school in Columbia.

He is married to the former Miranda Bailey.