On Monday morning it was announced that former South Carolina football standout Willie Scott had passed away at the age of 61.  

You may remember the name Willie Scott for many different reasons. Scott was an all-star player for the South Carolina Gamecocks in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a tight end, where Scott would record 70 total receptions for 896 yards and seven touchdowns under current legendary head coach Jim Carlen. Scott was regarded as one of the best in all of college football and while he was great catching the ball, he was also a great blocker for the offensive line and helped move Running-Back George Rogers to the top of the Heisman poll in 1980, and soon after would be the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Scott’s work scoring and blocking elevated his draft stock, and he would be drafted #14 overall in the NFL Draft, drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played 5 seasons there and three in New England to cap off his time playing football. Scott would make South Carolina history as he was the third Gamecock to be drafted in the first round.  

When his playing time was over, Scott immediately went into the coaching field as he continued to have an impact in the sport he loved dearly. Willie Scott spent a short time back at New England as an assistant before heading home to the Carolina’s to coach at various schools in the area, jobs including Newberry, East Carolina, South Carolina State, Savannah State, and some high school coaching jobs.  

Scott was inducted into the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame of 2006 and is a member of the Southeastern Conference hall of fame.  

Scott will be greatly missed by South Carolina natives and all of the people he touched in his time of playing and coaching. Scott broke history at South Carolina and will never be forgotten by the school or the state of South Carolina.