Rece Davis 'would be shocked' if Shane Beamer left South Carolina for Virginia Tech

The Virginia Tech job is one of two college football jobs to open up following Week 3. Now, the search is on in Blacksburg and, within that search, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer has had his name thrown around.

Shane Beamer is, of course, the son of Frank Beamer. A legendary head coach at Virginia Tech, Beamer led the program from 1987 to 2015. Along the way, he’d win eight conference titles and take the Hokies to the edge of a national championship in 1999 in what turned out to be a Hall of Fame career. During that time, he’d have his son with him for stints as a player and as a coach.

There’s obviously an emotional connection that could draw Shane Beamer to Virginia Tech. Despite that, ESPN’s Rece Davis explained on the College GameDay Podcast that he doesn’t see that move happening. In particular, because Beamer may prefer the situation he’s currently in at South Carolina.

“I would be shocked if he left South Carolina for Virginia Tech, absent just the pull of the heartstrings,” Rece Davis said. “Because I believe Shane thinks he has a destination type job at South Carolina. I know everyone doesn’t look at South Carolina that way. I think he does. I think he believes they can be a perennial contender there, something they haven’t done before.”

Since Frank Beamer left, and even in the later years of his tenure, Virginia Tech has seen its year-over-year success slip from the program’s heights. 2011 was the program’s last double-digit win season under Beamer. He’d leave in 2015 and be replaced by Justin Fuente and later Brent Pry. Fuente would flash early, winning double-digit games in 2016, but the Hokies haven’t gotten to that height since then. Now, sitting at 0-3, it appears the program has bottomed out under Pry.

This also comes at a time of major change in college athletics. NIL and the House Settlement have shaken how rosters are constructed. It’s also realigned the pecking order of some schools, depending on how much they are either willing to or able to spend. The ACC, meanwhile, is facing potential further conference realignment, which Virginia Tech is not guaranteed to be a part of. That stems from frustrations with the conference’s media deal.

On top of that, with the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, it appears the SEC is likely to get more teams in annually than the ACC based on those SEC schools having better metrics like strength of schedule. There’s a chance that the structure of the CFP changes, but regardless of that model, Shane Beamer can expect to find a more open path at South Carolina.

Virginia Tech is always going to be an important program to Shane Beamer. That much was obvious when the two played earlier in the season. However, assuming Rece Davis is right, the Hokies are going to need to look elsewhere for their next head coach.