COLOMBIA – Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell spoke with South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner about the vacant position of Gamecocks football coach, and Oklahoma assistant coach Shane Beamer is scheduled. for an interview this weekend, sources told the Post and Courier. These are the first two interviews known to a group of candidates that includes at least six other people.
Tanner, the sources say, wants to have a decision made by December 5, the same day the Gamecocks end their regular season in Kentucky.
This would give the new coach time to lock up what remains of the recruiting class before the start of the hiring period on December 16. Six players who have committed to coach Will Muschamp have already given up on their promises, with the highest rated, Trenilyas Tatum, joining Georgia Tech on Wednesday night.
South Carolina dismissed Muschamp on November 15. He was 2-5 in his fifth season as a coach and 28-30 overall.
Chadwell, a former North Greenville and Charleston Southern coach, took Coastal to a record 8-0 and 16th place in the Associated Press poll (20th in the College Football Playoff vote this week). With their home campus two hours from Columbia, it was an easy opportunity for Tanner and Chadwell to meet.
“I have already commented on this several times and, to be honest with you, I am getting tired of commenting on it,” Chadwell said at a recent press conference. “I will not comment on any more speculation because I am being hammered about all these different things. Our only focus here is to work to beat Texas State and win the Sun Belt East. “
The Chanticleeers will be in Texas State at 3pm on Saturday.
Beamer received massive support from former Gamecock players during a Zoom meeting with Tanner last week, as well as other voices associated with the USC. Four former players, the highlight of the Los Angeles Chargers Melvin Ingram, the defensive back DJ Swearinger of the New Orleans Saints, the former Dallas Cowboy coach / current South Pointe High, DeVonte Holloman, and show legend Marcus Lattimore, expressed their wishes that Beamer would take over.
A 2007-10 USC assistant, Beamer, son of longtime Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, was never an offensive or defensive coach or coordinator.
He wants the job very much and would be willing to refuse a possible technician job in his alma mater, Virginia Tech, if that meant he could lead the Gamecocks.
The original plan was for Beamer to be interviewed in Norman after Saturday, but the plans may have changed. The Sooners were scheduled to play in West Virginia on Saturday, but the game was postponed to December 12 after Oklahoma paused the team’s activities due to COVID testing and contact tracking.
Gamecocks is set to host No. 13 Georgia at 7:30 pm Saturday.
The interview protocol may also have changed. USC President Bob Caslen, a former West Point football player and superintendent, is involved in the interview process. Caslen announced on Wednesday that his test was positive for COVID, which means he will not be able to participate in face-to-face interviews in the near future.
His team said he conducted business at the university via videoconference at his home.
Video interviews can also be used if Gamecocks want to interview Billy Napier, another trainer who emphasized that he would like the job. Napier, a former assistant coach at Clemson and Alabama and a quarterback at Furman, had a positive result at COVID and has cut himself off from the 23rd Louisiana football team since November 17.
Louisville’s head coach Scott Satterfield, a former Appalachian State coach, would have an appointment, but said publicly that he had not sought any other jobs. While Satterfield never denied having spoken to or given an interview with USC, Louisville’s athletic director, Vince Tyra, told The (Louisville) Courier-Journal that there was no definite interview.
Andy Shain contributed to this story
Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.