By PETE IACOBELLI
The Associated Press
COLOMBIA – Shane Beamer was an assistant in South Carolina in 2010, when the Gamecocks made their only appearance in the game for the Southeastern Conference title.
Things did not go well that day; South Carolina lost to eventual national champion Auburn 56-17.
In his presentation on Monday as the new South Carolina coach, Beamer promised that South Carolina would return to Atlanta “and this time we will finish the job”.
Beamer, appointed to replace the dismissed Will Muschamp, set out his vision for reversing South Carolina, which has gone from 6 to 16 years in the past two years and from 5 to 15 in the SEC.
Beamer thanked Muschamp for his dedication to South Carolina for the past five seasons and then promised to bring consistency to Gamecocks.
“People say you can’t win in South Carolina,” said Beamer, the 43-year-old son of former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer. “You can for sure. We have everything you need to win at high, high, high level.”
Beamer arrived in South Carolina on Sunday, meeting with Gamecocks players and staff. Several former players, some trained by him, including receiver Moe Brown, and others (Outback Bowl MVP Ryan Brewer and quarterback Perry Orth) stopped on Monday morning. Beamer left – the South Carolina operations center is blocked because of COVID-19 regulations – for a chat.
He will quickly return to Oklahoma to end the season as a technical assistant and coach for the Sooners.
“It will be chaotic, but I am surrounded by a large group of people in this facility here and we are going to solve this,” he said.
Athletic director Ray Tanner declined to discuss the length of the contract or Beamer’s salary. He said the Board of Trustees will review the agreement at its next meeting, December 15.
Beamer said he will reconcile his current job with his new one in the next two weeks, using phones and video chats to connect with potential assistants, current recruits and Gamecocks.
Beamer said he learned something from everywhere he has been trained since his time in Mississippi with Sylvester Croom, the SEC’s first black football coach, to Steve Spurrier for four seasons with the 2007-10 Gamecocks and five seasons with his father at Virginia Tech.
“I didn’t sit in that (head coach) chair, but I know how it is from the people who sat,” he said.
The landscape has changed since Beamer left a decade ago – both positive and negative.
Beamer’s new office is in a $ 50 million two-year operations facility that is one of the best in college football. However, just ahead is a national championship program in Clemson, South Carolina’s biggest rival.
Beamer, as Spurrier’s recruiting coordinator, set the table for South Carolina’s five consecutive victories in the 2009-13 rivalry. Since then, Clemson has won six consecutive titles, along with national titles in 2016 and 2018.
“They are in a good race,” said Beamer of the rival. “When I was here before, we were in a good race ourselves.”
South Carolina sports director Ray Tanner asked Beamer if his father would accept the deal. Shane Beamer said he talks football with his father all the time and will continue to do so during his tenure.
He is proud to carry the family’s “Beamer Ball” brand. “For me, that means attacking, scoring in attack, defense and special teams and I hope to bring that” to South Carolina, he said.
University president Bob Caslen said Beamer stood out when he, Tanner and athletic administrator Chance Miller conducted interviews with candidates.
“He has the character that will take this program to a championship level,” said Caslen.
Beamer understands that he probably won’t have any relief if things don’t change sooner or later. He referred to his father, Frank, going 2-8-1 in his sixth season at Virginia Tech, something that could never happen these days.
“I didn’t come up with an eight-year plan, a five-year plan” to Tanner, said Beamer. “You can’t think long term. Every day, you have to move on.”