COLUMBIA, S.C. — Shane Beamer has another vacancy on his staff.
Justin Stepp, who has been at South Carolina for the past three seasons under Beamer, is the new wide receivers coach at the University of Illinois.
“I have admired Coach Stepp’s career from afar and I am excited to welcome him to our Illini family,” said head coach Bret Bielema in a statement.
“His relationships-driven leadership has led to an enormous amount of success in recruiting and developing NFL-caliber wide receivers. I am excited to see the impact his passion will have on our building. He and his wife, Brooke, and their two children are going to be great additions to our football family and the Illinois community.”
Beamer recently hired James Coley to coach the Gamecock receivers and announced Stepp was moving to tight ends coach.
But Stepp, a Pelion native and former All-Southern Conference receiver at Furman, has been a wide receivers throughout his coaching career which started in 2007 at Fort Mill High School before he took a job on the North Greenville staff in 2008.
After working at Appalachian State from 2012-2014, Stepp worked at SMU for another three-season stint, from 2015-2017. His first Power 5 job came in 2018 when he followed Chad Morris from SMU to Arkansas in 2018. He was retained by Sam Pittman who took over the Razorback program the following season of 2019.
Stepp jumped at the chance to come back to the Midlands to coach the Gamecock wide receivers under Beamer. But after three seasons working in the 803 area code, Stepp is headed to the Big 10 where he will work under Illinois offensive coordinator Barry Lunney. Stepp and Lunney crossed paths when both worked at Arkansas and now those two former Razorback assistants will be working together again in Champaigne, Illinois.
“I was extremely impressed with Justin’s passion and knowledge for the receiver position when I worked with him for two years,” said Lunney in a statement.
“He is full of energy, a relentless recruiter, and has a unique ability to create meaningful relationships with his student-athletes. I can’t wait to reunite with him here in Champaign.”
Some of Stepp’s high-profile receivers he has coached include current Denver Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton who played at SMU, former Gamecocks Josh Vann and Jalen Brooks and in this year’s NFL Draft, Xavier Leggette from Mullins is expected to be a high draft pick.