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Swinney sought out Beamer while looking for a job in South Carolina.
Shane Beamer heard the comparisons between him and Clemson’s head coach
Dabo Swinney, and he considers it a compliment.
Beamer was hired last week as head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks, replacing the recently fired Will Muschamp in Columbia. Beamer was the technical / offensive assistant in Oklahoma, but he was an assistant on the South Carolina team under Steve Spurrier from 2007 to 2010.
In 2009 and 2010, Beamer was the recruiting coordinator for South Carolina when Gamecocks brought together some of their best recruiting classes in the school’s history, serving as the basis for three consecutive 11-win seasons and three consecutive top-10 results in final searches.
Beamer said the comparisons with Swinney are flattering.
“I would say yes,” said Beamer of the comparisons with Swinney. “I am a confident person, very positive and full of energy, and that is how I live my life as a coach, husband and father. Life is very short and I want to see what’s good in everything. It would take a lot to bring me down. I try to see the positive in everything, to be constantly on high energy. I’m the type of guy with the glass half full and I try to be the same every day. For me, that’s a compliment.
“It’s a rivalry, and a rivalry that I can’t wait to get into and compete for on recruiting, on the football field.”
Beamer said Swinney held out his hand while the job search was underway.
“But you are also talking about a coach who I have a lot of respect for whom I consider a close and personal friend,” said Beamer. “I talked to him before I got this job and who I’ve been talking to since I got this job. I appreciate your willingness to contact me before and after and we will try to beat each other’s brains out on the field when we play every November and we will try to beat each other’s brains in recruiting, for sure. But at the end of the day, he did a remarkable job up there and I think about him a lot. “
Clemson has won six consecutive wins over Gamecocks and Beamer knows that one of his top priorities is to stop this streak.
“When I was in Columbia, I was in the early stages of when that five-year winning streak started against those guys,” said Beamer. “We need to go back to winning football games against these guys in November, for sure. We are already working hard on this. They did a great job of recruiting and that is obvious from the results in the field. I am concerned about South Carolina and we will try to improve our program and move it forward through recruitment and field success. Let’s close the gap.
“But I’m not sitting here trying to compare myself to Clemson every day. I’m trying to make Carolina the best it can be. If we do that, South Carolina will win championships and be very successful on the football field. And that’s why I’m excited. I’m just worried about today. “
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