COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Mike Shula is eager to return to the Southeastern Conference as South Carolina's offensive coordinator, nearly two decades after the onetime Alabama quarterback was fired as the Crimson Tide's coach.

There's no bitterness about the past, only excitement for the future.

“I learned a long time ago from every experience, just make sure you learn from it,” said Shula, who coached Alabama from 2003 until 2006. “There's nothing you can do to change the past, learn from and be better.”

That's the plan at South Carolina, where Shula was hired Tuesday as coordinator and quarterbacks coach after serving as an analyst for the team's revived offense since March.

Shane Beamer, coach of the 14th-ranked Gamecocks, said he had only Shula in mind for the position after coordinator Dowell Loggains left to become Appalachian State's head coach earlier this month. Beamer vetted Shula's OC chops through some of his former players and colleagues at the Carolina Panthers, where Shula as offensive coordinator helped the team to a Super Bowl appearance in 2015.

Working this season as a South Carolina analyst added to Shula's bona fides, Beamer said. “Probably helped him grow even more as a coach,” Beamer said. “He's got a great background from his time in the NFL, in college, and he will continue to make our quarterbacks better, our offense better and this program better, as well.”

Shula, 59, couldn't agree more. “It's been very energizing for me,” he said of his time at South Carolina.

Shula, a son of late NFL coaching wins leader Don Shula, was hired at Alabama in 2003 and went 10-2 with the Crimson Tide in his third season. But after falling to 6-6 the next year, the program moved on. The school later vacated 21 victories, 16 under Shula, for NCAA violations and he spent from 2007-2023 in the NFL.

When Loggains reached out to Shula about the analyst job, he thought it was an exciting offer to get back to the SEC.

South Carolina went from 13th in the SEC in scoring in 2023 to sixth this season. The Gamecocks rushed for 118.8 yards a game a year ago, which went up to a league-best 232 yards per game this fall.

Shula worked with Loggains and first-year starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers as the Gamecocks closed the regular season with six straight wins — four of them over ranked opponents.

Sellers passed for 793 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions as South Carolina opened 3-3. He upped that to 1,481 passing yards, 13 TDs and just three picks during the six-game winning streak.

Sellers, a 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman, has an enormous upside and already is getting 2025 Heisman Trophy buzz.

Shula said Sellers is not vocal on the field but has a way about him that “without really saying a lot or being very vocal that attracts guys in the leadership. So, hopefully, our relationship that we've built here since last March will benefit us.”

The Gamecocks will play in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 against No. 21 Illinois (9-3). Beamer said it's still undetermined whether Shula will call the offense in the postseason or wait until after it to install his offensive tweaks.

Shula's goal is simple for South Carolina's offense.

“We want to do things just as good as we've done this past season,” he said. “That's a challenge in itself.”

The Gamecocks' attack was supported by an experienced defense that featured SEC sacks leader Kyle Kennard, who won the Nagurski Award as college football's top defender. Much of that unit will be gone next season.

Shula is not concerned with the defensive depth chart next season, only with his players and coaches on offense.

“We know that with the guys that we have in this program, the players, as well as the coaches that we got, to make sure we do our job first and not worry about anybody else,” he said.

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