It may have taken a while, but South Carolina’s first-year football coach Shane Beamer finished Connor Shawrole of with the program. The two have worked together since Beamer’s arrival to find out exactly what Shaw wants to do and how he can best help the program, and the pair decided on a role.
On Tuesday, the school announced that Shaw will be the Football Relations Director and will assume more football and recruiting roles than he had under his previous title. He will also serve as a contact for former South Carolina football players.
From the day Beamer started working in South Carolina, he knew that Shaw would be part of his team, and would be an integral part. Shaw attended several meetings, both from a team and recruiting perspective, and his role will be critical for Beamer in the future.
“Any way Connor can help is an invaluable tool for us,” said Beamer on Wednesday at his National Signature Day press conference.
“The day I got here, in December, I sat down with Connor, he was one of the first guys I met in my office, and I said to him, ‘I’m not going to let you go anywhere. I want you in this building and I want you here with me. We need to sit down and find out exactly where you are with things, what your goals are, what you want to do and I want to help you get there. ‘This is what we did.
“I think Connor is brilliant. He has a brilliant mind in football, having played in South Carolina and in the NFL. I think he has a brilliant mind when it comes to recruiting, relating to people’s ideas about team and character development. Connor will do a little bit of everything, obviously within NCAA rules.
“He’s a guy I trust a lot, someone I exchange ideas with and I want his opinion on things. He saw it, as a player and professional and, last year, as a support team. I think it’s fantastic if he’s here with me. He’s a guy whose role will continue to grow. He’s a guy who will have a lot of information about the day-to-day operations of this building, for sure. “
Before returning to his alma mater, Shaw played in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns, had a short stint as a technical assistant at Furman and worked away from football.
As Gamecock’s starting quarterback, Shaw led Carolina to a 27-5 record, including a 17-0 record at Williams-Brice Stadium. In his four-year career, Shaw completed 480 of 733 passes (65.5 percent) for 6,074 yards with 56 touchdowns, while also running for 1,683 yards and 17 points. A prospect of the 2010 class of Flowery Branch, Georgia (Flowery Branch), Shaw was ranked the country’s number 11 double threat quarterback by the 247Sports Composite.