Keith Belton, USC's assistant strength and conditioning coach, is set to join the staff at Kansas per his Instagram account and confirmation from several players. Belton posted a photo of the Kansas Jayhawk on Tuesday with the caption "ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!"

Several USC players offered congratulations to Belton, who was a popular figure among the team. Belton, who went by Coach KB, even replied to a comment asking for explanation that he is "headed to the University of Kansas."

View this post on Instagram ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK! #thebestisyettocome A post shared by Keith Belton (@competition.me) on Feb 26, 2019 at 5:29pm PST

Belton was in his second stint with USC after joining the program in 2014 as an assistant strength coach under head coach Steve Sarkisian. He then left to lead the strength and conditioning program at UNLV in 2015 before returning to USC in 2017. The North Carolina native graduate from Syracuse where he played running back and served as a team captain his senior season. He went to have a four-year stint in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos before moving into coaching. His other college coaching stops include Wake Forest, Baylor and Washington.

This marks another major blow for USC's strength and conditioning program after lead strength and conditioning coach Ivan Lewis accepted a position with the Seattle Seahawks under head coach Pete Carroll last month. Lewis also took with him USC assistant strength coaches Mark Philipp and Grant Steen. Naturally, Belton was one of the remaining coaches that stepped up to lead offseason workouts after Lewis' departure.

USC head coach Clay Helton confirmed that Lewis had accepted the position with the Seahawks back in late January and added that he was currently conducting interviews for his replacement.

"Ivan's replacement will be someone who can develop our players' total body as well as design programs for their skill specific needs. That programming should incorporate strength, conditioning, speed training, functional football movements, preventative injury exercises, flexibility, diet and sleep. That person will be forward thinking when it comes to the art of sports science and how it can help our players gain a competitive advantage," he said in a statement. "They should have the leadership skills and confidence to lead a group of 110 young men, being firm but fair and holding them accountable to their responsibilities. Someone who will coach them hard, but also develop relationships built on trust and honesty. And someone who will establish toughness, discipline and teamwork that will carry over to the practice field and games."

Given that he had prior experience at USC and was well liked by the players, Belton was a candidate on paper to take over the job. Several players even championed for Belton on social media to be promoted.

USC has gone a majority of the winter offseason without a head strength and conditioning coach. The Trojans are set to begin spring camp on March 4.