South Carolina Football: Shane Beamer is ideal fit as next head coach

South Carolina football relieved Will Muschamp of his head coaching duties, and we examine how Shane Beamer will be a good fit.

This is a year that will go down in the history books. And in a year full of adjustments and changes because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, it is not at all surprising that South Carolina football relieved head coach Will Muschamp of his duties.

The main question surrounding the former head coach’s future heading into the 2020 season was when he would inevitably be fired. Would he survive this year and receive an exemption for his team’s poor performance because of COVID-19, or would the university negotiate his multi-million dollar buyout and let him go?

The answer came Sunday evening when news broke that Muschamp had been fired. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is the interim head coach as the search begins for the next head coach of South Carolina.

One of my fellow Saturday Blitz teammates made his case for three possible replacements for Muschamp, and I agree with his choices — they’re all legitimate options — but I have someone else in mind for the position.

South Carolina’s fanbase is throwing around a lot of names, some of which were included in the article mentioned above, while others have given their opinions on who they think will be the man for the job. A popular choice amongst the fans, which happens to be my choice to replace Muschamp is Shane Beamer.

Beamer will be going against big-name options who have head coaching experience on their resumes, but his resume speaks for itself, and everyone has to start somewhere to get the experience. Beamer returning to his home state and a program in which he found success makes him a viable candidate.

Who is Shane Beamer?

Beamer was born in Charleston, S.C., and instead of accepting a partial scholarship to one of the local schools, Charleston Southern, he was a walk-on for Virginia Tech, which is also where his dad and legendary head coach Frank Beamer was in charge. Beamer was part of the Virginia Tech team who played and lost to Florida State for the national title in 1999.

Shane went straight from playing college football to coaching it. He first started with Georgia Tech where he was a graduate assistant under George O’Leary.

In 2003, Beamer went to Tennessee where he spent three years as a grad assistant before earning his masters in sports management in 2003. He has spent time coaching and mentoring players on both sides of the ball, has a successful recruiting history and will bring motivation with positive results that have been missing for a long time at South Carolina.

Beamer’s resume

Beamer has experience in several Power Five conferences including the ACC, SEC and the Big 12, where he is currently an assistant coach at Oklahoma.

After his time at Tennessee, Beamer was hired at Mississippi State, coaching the cornerbacks, and in 2006, he became the Bulldogs’ recruiting coordinator.

In 2007 Beamer moved to South Carolina under the then-head coach Steve Spurrier and was hired as the outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. In 2009, the Gamecocks’ defense finished second in pass defense in the SEC and ranked 13th nationally in total defense.

In 2009 under Beamer, the special teams blocked five kicks which tied for the lead in the season and ranked eighth nationally. He spent his final two years with the Gamecocks as the recruiting coordinator and is responsible for recruiting some of the best players in the Spurrier era: Stephon Gilmore, Alshon Jeffery, Marcus Lattimore and Connor Shaw, to name a few.

Beamer joined his father’s coaching staff at Virginia Tech in 2010 and remained there until his dad retired five years later. Shane also stood in for his father as the head coach during the Military Bowl while Frank was recovering from throat surgery and watched from the sidelines.

The younger Beamer returned to the SEC following his time at Virginia Tech, this time coaching under Kirby Smart at Georgia as the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. While Beamer was part of the Georgia coaching staff, the team went 21-7 which included the 13-2 season in 2017.

In 2018, Beamer joined the staff at Oklahoma as an assistant under Lincoln Riley. That same year, the Sooners led the nation in total offense, were ranked second in passing efficiency and 14th in punt return average. Beamer is currently still an assistant at Oklahoma.

Beamer will bring spark that Gamecocks need

Even though Beamer doesn’t have head coaching experience on paper, he has coached offense, defense and special teams — not to mention the numerous positions he held in recruiting across the spectrum.

South Carolina needs a shake-up; mediocrity became acceptable during the Muschamp era, and bringing someone who already has proven success with the university, and a variety of accomplishments across different conferences, makes sense.

Beamer will bring enthusiasm, rhyme and reason and will recruit the players who will execute his visions for success.