Beamer had a tough start as a South Carolina football coach

COLOMBIA, SC – South Carolina coach Shane Beamer can no longer look at his cell phone without worrying about bad news.

Transfers of players, disengagement from recruits and offensive assistants that Beamer hired, choosing to leave a rival from the Southeast Conference, is not the smooth transition that the head coach expected him to enjoy.

“When I was hired, I didn’t want to lose anyone,” said Beamer, before adding, “that’s just part of it.”

Still, it is not easy to endure, even for a team that has made 6 to 16 in the past two seasons and fired former coach Will Muschamp, with three games remaining last November.

The team’s main defender, linebacker Ernest Jones, declared himself in favor of the NFL draft. The second leading defense striker, Jammie Robinson, and striker Kier Thomas, second in the three-sack team, are moving to Florida.

Quarterbacks Collin Hill and Ryan Hilinski, who have started 19 of their last 22 games for South Carolina, said they will not be back next year. This leaves the second year student, Luke Doty, who started the final disputes (both defeats), as the only passerby with university experience.

“The guys are looking for better opportunities,” said Beamer. “I understand the guys who left here, they didn’t come to South Carolina to play for me. They came to play for another coach and I knew when I was hired that it was a possibility. “

South Carolina ranks last in the SEC in recruiting for 2021, according to 247Sports.com.

But defections were not limited to players.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who was the team’s interim coach after Muschamp’s resignation, was hired by Beamere, while Will Friend was hired from Tennessee to lead the offensive line.

Within days, the two left for Auburn and his new coach, Bryan Harsin.

Beamer said the changes were simply coaches getting better offers and advancing their careers. Still, he left Beamer questioning what he could have done better with these signings.

“I learned and made some mistakes for sure and I’m doing my best not to make those same mistakes,” he said.

Beamer hired Carolina Panthers technical assistant Marcus Satterfield to lead the attack and train the defenders. Satterfield served under Panthers coach Matt Rhule in Temple and Baylor before joining the NFL last season.

Satterfield said the Gamecocks team has “a patience and is ready to prove to people that we can do some special things” in Columbia.

Not all of the staff news was bad for Beamer.

Defensive lineman Kingsley Enagbare, a second all-SEC AP team, announced this week that he was returning to his senior season with the Gamecocks. The 1.80m and 270lbs Enagbare led the team with six bags last year.

Enagbare said he wanted to come back in part to perfect his game and “stay with my brothers and play professional football.”

That is Beamer’s goal as well. He understands, however, that the bonds will have to be built day by day. He said he saw evidence that this is happening.

The Gamecocks had their first team meeting on Sunday and then one of the team’s best defensive players, whom Beamer identified, texted the coach he wanted to meet.

Beamer immediately thought the worst, “but all he wanted to do was stay in my office and watch the NFL playoff games,” said the coach.

“I’m not naive enough to think that everything is going to be perfect,” said Beamer. “There will be ups and downs, but we will continue to take this forward.”

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