South Carolina fires offensive coordinator

South Carolina fired offensive coordinator Kurt Roper, head coach Will Muschamp announced Wednesday.

Co-offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon will now call offensive plays for the Gamecocks in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1 against Michigan.

"After much deliberation, I have decided to go in a different direction with the offensive coordinator position on our football team," Muschamp said in a statement. "We appreciate Kurt's contributions to our program and to the university and wish him all the best."

Roper spent the past two seasons at South Carolina and coached with Muschamp at Florida in 2014.

McClendon, also the wide receivers coach, shared the co-offensive coordinator title with Roper since both were hired two seasons ago.

Roper was among the top candidates for the head-coaching vacancy at Rice, his alma mater. Rice is expected to hire Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren, according to ESPN.