ATHENS – South Carolina’s new coach Shane Beamer has a good idea of how he wants to establish his program, and some of those concepts come from Georgia coach Kirby Smart.
Beamer is one of the three main coaches of the Power 5 who were on the first Smart team and helped lead the program for the 2017 college football championship game. Sam Pittman is the Arkansas head coach, and Mel Tucker is the head coach of the state of Michigan.
“I am still grateful to Kirby for giving me the opportunity to go there and train in 2016, after my father retired,” Beamer told DawgNation during an exclusive interview for the English On The Beat Show on Monday.
“I didn’t really know many of those guys on the team, but I did,” said Beamer, 43. “I knew Kirby, Scott Sinclair and I worked together at Georgia Tech in 2000, but other than that, they were just the names of people I recognized.
“Tracy Rocker knew about him, Mel Tucker, knew everything about him since his days in the NFL, Sam Pittman was a nationally recognized offensive lineman, Jim Chaney had known since his Purdue days, James Coley had been at the ACC in Miami. So, they were people I knew, but I didn’t really know.
“Did you know that when Kirby put them together, they were a great team.”
Beamer, who played at Virginia Tech for his father, college football Hall of Fame Frank Beamer, obviously has some inherent coaching philosophies.
But being part of a team formed from the beginning was particularly important.
“Just being able to go from day one and see how things were implemented,” said Beamer. “Everyone talks about how they worked for Nick Saban and understand his process and how they do things. Well, maybe.
“But I was able to see it implemented from day one. And Kirby explained why we do that, not just someone is hired by Nick Saban and here’s what we do. It was great to see that and it made me a better coach. “
Beamer trained special teams and tight ends for Georgia in 2016 and 2017 before working in Oklahoma as assistant head coach and tight ends coach under Lincoln Riley.
His work with the Sooners brought him closer to a position as head coach, probably because of his involvement in Oklahoma’s vanguard attack and his rise to the title.
But Beamer also credits Smart for helping to prepare him for the big opportunity he faces with Gamecocks.
“Kirby is someone I have known for a long time and I consider him a friend, but he forces him out of his comfort zone, he leaves no one complacent,” said Beamer. “It makes you think of new ways of doing things.
“He challenges you, he is demanding and that made me a better coach during my time with him, without a doubt.”
Beamer revealed that having the chance to train with the Bulldogs has always been one of his goals.
“My parents have a house on Lake Oconee, very close to Athens, so we have spent, since 1989, at least two weeks of summer in that area,” said Beamer. “I was very familiar with Athens and Georgia. It was a place I always wanted to train.
“I am still grateful to Kirby for giving me the opportunity to go there and train in 2016, after my father retired.”
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