Looking from the outside, South Carolina hires Shane Beamer being your football coach may not make much sense. The 43-year-old was never a head coach or coordinator, and more recently, he was the tight end coach and assistant coach in Oklahoma.
But being a principal coordinator or coach is not necessarily a prerequisite for successful coaching. Meyer Urbano, Dabo Swinney, and Ed Orgeron he won four of six national titles in the college football playoff era and was never a coordinator before becoming head coaches.
Within the program, Beamer was considered suitable. One of the main reasons for this is that, as an assistant to the 2007-10 Gamecocks, Beamer laid the groundwork by recruiting to South Carolina for 42-11 from 2010-13, by far the best period in the program’s history. Hungry to return to an unprecedented level of success, never seen before or after, the Gamecock program listened to those around Beamer during his time on the team. Notably, this included former players who spoke out in their favor.
What were the circumstances surrounding the recruitment scene that led Beamer to help South Carolina gather the talent for an unprecedented race? Let’s take a look.
THE MIDDLE-CLASS RANK OF SOUTH CAROLINA WAS NO. 25
South Carolina had classes ranked 35th, 14th, 34th and 17th in 2008-11, which leads to an average of 25th. Interestingly, Gamecocks averaged a class ranked 22nd in the four years before Beamer started recruiting. And Will Muschamp’s last four classes averaged 20th.
On a purely team classification level, Beamer’s recruitment does not stand out. But we have to dig deeper.
SOME SC RECRUITING RIVALS HAVE DECREASED IN COMPARISON WITH NOW
I took a look at Clemson, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, four of the teams South Carolina always faces on the recruiting trail, to see how they were recruiting during the time that the Gamecocks built the responsible squad for the execution of 42-11.
Clemson, which was led by Tommy Bowden and Dabo Swinney during this time, he obtained an average of class finish in 21st place, while Beamer’s Gamecocks reached an average of 25th. Clemson’s last four classes, including his current 2021 class, finished 6th on average.
Georgia, which was trained by Mark Richt, obtained on average a class of 7th place. Over the past four years, the Georgia class has averaged 1.75 finishes, higher than any program in the country.
Tennessee, which had three main coaches during the relevant sample (Phillip Fulmer, Lane Kiffin, and Derek Dooley) had an average result of 16º, incredibly. In fact, this is only slightly worse than the average Volts for the last four cycles (15th).
And North Carolina, then trained by Butch Davis, obtained on average a class classification of 21º. This is slightly better than the average for the last four complete cycles (22º), although the 2021 class will improve the recent classification a little.
In all, these four Gamecocks recruiting rivals averaged a class that ranked 16th nationally during this period. In the most recent four years, they have reached an average of 11th place.
Since recruiting is a zero-sum game, South Carolina has something to say about it. If you hire an elite player, that is a player that Georgia, Clemson, South Carolina or Tennessee cannot.
But it is instructive to illustrate the changing circumstances that Beamer faces. Clemson and Georgia boosted their recruitment for another march.
THE GREAT: A GREAT ANOMALY IN THE STATE INCREASED THE GAMECOCKS DURING THE BEAMER’S TIME
Obviously, South Carolina needs to recruit its own state. And it recruits Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and the ranks of junior college.
But during Shane Beamer’s time in Columbia, Palmetto State had an unprecedented amount of talent that it hasn’t had since. South Carolina hired elite players like Stephon Gilmore, Devonte Holloman, Alshon Jeffrey, Marcus Lattimore, Kelcy Quarles, Bruce Ellington, AJ Cann, Victor Hampton, Jadeveon Clowneyand Branson Shell.
The names resonate, but the numbers are even clearer.
In the 2008-11 classes (the four recruited by Beamer), the state of South Carolina produced 39 candidates ranked in the Top-350 nationally (the typical cut for four-star status).
In the past four years, the state of Palmetto has produced just 14.
Think about it – 39 against 14. This is a big difference in the type of talent in the state that allows a team to compete in the upper half of the SEC.
To make sure that 2008-11 was the atypical value and not 2018-21, I looked at the amount of Top-350 talent produced in the state each year since then.
The fall is clear. The state of South Carolina had an incredible race of elite talent during the time of Shane Beamer recruiting for the Gamecocks, but the state has since returned to its historical levels.
Of course, as The Big Spur notes, Beamer also has a lot of experience recruiting from neighboring states. His mandate will not be defined simply by the way he recruits in the state. After all, rival Clemson has signed only two South Carolina blue chips in the last four classes. Tigers realize the lack of talent in the state and successfully move beyond its borders. Beamer’s experience in the region can help.
BEAMER WAS A GOOD EVALUATOR IN COLOMBIA; YOUR TEAM WILL HAVE TO BE BETTER NOW
The recruitment stretch in the state of South Carolina in the years that Shane Beamer trained, Gamecocks were unquestionably stimulated by a different crop of talent in the state. But Gamecocks also reached a good number of customers that were not among the top 350 in the country. DJ Swearinger was a three-star prospect, for example.
Gamecocks also exaggerated a little during Beamer’s tenure, as did many SEC teams. They brought 115 signatories in the 2008-11 class. With the gaps closed, this is no longer possible.
The lack of talent in the state combined with the inability to overdo it means that Beamer Gamecocks need to have an excellent hit rate on their assessments and scholarship options if they are to compete with the best teams at the SEC.