Get to know one of the best, brightest young coaches in the game! Deion Barnes was named the Gamecocks’ defensive ends/outside linebackers coach on December 23, 2025. Barnes spent the past three seasons as the defensive line coach on James Franklin’s staff at Penn State after working with the Nittany Lions for three years as a graduate assistant tutoring the defensive line. During his six seasons working with the PSU defensive line, Barnes mentored 21 All-Big Ten selections, including five first-team picks, along with a first-team, a second-team and a third-team All-American. During Barnes’s coaching tenure with the Nittany Lions from 2020-25, Penn State led the nation in most defensive ends selected in the NFL Draft with seven. Penn State’s defense has consistently been among the FBS leaders in both sacks and tackles for loss. In 2025, PSU ranked third in the Big Ten and 37th in the country in tackles for loss, averaging 6.1 per game, and fifth in the Big Ten and 39th in the nati...