Exclusive discussion with Gamecock football head coach Shane Beamer

Shane Beamer’s sprawling office inside the Cyndi and Kenneth Long Family Football Operations Center is filled with mementos from his 22-year coaching career.

Shelves behind his desk hold helmets of the teams from his previous coaching stops.

There’s a white rally towel from the 2010 SEC title game, when Beamer was an assistant under Steve Spurrier.

Several pages of handwritten notes he used to prep for the press conference that formally introduced him in December 2020 are framed on a wall.

And now, roughly 14 months into his time as South Carolina’s head coach, the space is beginning to accumulate more and more keepsakes from his second stop in Columbia – this one being the stint that Beamer hopes lasts the rest of his career.

From anywhere in the office, a breathtaking view overlooks Gamecock Park and, a bit further in the distance, Williams-Brice Stadium. The floor-to-ceiling windows that look outside can also serve as a type of dry erase board, and there have been times in which the glass has been completely covered with markings.

On this day, just a few remain: messages – such as “I love you” – from his three children and an offensive play design left up from discussions in the midst of the 2021 season.

On another wall adjacent to the office’s entrance is a giant photographic mural of the Kay and Eddie Floyd Building, which is situated at the north end zone of the football stadium. After Beamer got the job, he personally requested changing this wall from what it was – plain white with a television mounted on it – to the current iteration.

“I asked them to put it up because it reminds me of where I came from,” Beamer recently told GamecockCentral.com.

The Floyd Building, prior to massive facilities upgrades, formerly housed offices for the entire football staff, including Beamer when he was an assistant from 2007 until 2010. On the right side of that building is a balcony area. After hard rain, water would pool significantly and inevitably leak through the ceiling into the rooms below.

 “That,” said Beamer, pointing to a spot on the mural right below that porous porch, “is where my office was.”

After one particularly bad storm, a call came into the football staff warning of some water damage in the offices, and a report laying out the extent of the harm was given.

“They said ‘it’s not too bad, but Coach Beamer’s office is ruined,’” he recalled.

The young coach returned to his desk to find many of his belongings soaked, including a stack of paperwork.

“Some of it was important stuff,” Beamer laughed.

Below that mural on the office wall is a collection of storage drawers, and among the items inside are those crusty old papers, which Beamer kept to serve as another reminder of just how good he has it in Columbia.

Now 45, Beamer is situated in his dream job. He just finished his first season at the helm of the Gamecocks program, capping the year with a convincing win over North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. A team that had won six games combined in the past two seasons surpassed the expectations of many by winning seven in Beamer’s first year at the helm. He’s back in the state he was born in, raising his family while serving in the role he hoped to land ever since he left 11 years ago.  

“I have nothing to complain about,” he said.

Beamer recently granted GamecockCentral.com an exclusive interview that touched on several topics including an assessment of his first season as head coach, recruiting, and family.

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GAMECOCKCENTRAL: In terms of recruiting, what’s your assessment on where it is, what you like, and what you and your staff can get better at?

BEAMER: That’s still kind of a work in progress, trying to dive in and analyze on how we can be better. That’s one thing we’ve talked about as a staff. Every person is responsible for giving one or two things of how we can be better at recruiting, whether it be junior days, whether it be visits, home games, virtual visits, whatever it may be. You’re always looking at that. Looking back, now that you’ve gone through a year,  you’re looking back and been through a year of it, what are some things we’d do different? 

I don’t know how much jumps out right now that we want to change, but a lot of it is realizing even more so now just what an impact getting these guys on campus has, letting them see this facility, getting them on campus. So many families, when they come here, they are like ‘I had no idea South Carolina was like this.’ Even some of these guys that we brought in from a transfer standpoint came in like, ‘oh my God.’ I don’t know what people expected. I guess you don’t think South Carolina’s going to be like that, and it is. Just being able to emphasize that as much as we can and get guys here.

GAMECOCKCENTRAL: Spencer Rattler told us that he was blown away on the virtual visit.

BEAMER: We had a staff meeting and that’s what we literally just talked about was, for the out of state guys, we need to continue doing the virtual visits. Maybe not every single night like last year, but at least once or twice a week being able to get those guys on because it is pretty impressive what we do. For the out of state guys it’s basically an extra unofficial visit.

GAMECOCKCENTRAL: How much do you run into ‘The Logo’ on the recruiting trail, and how do you beat that? 

BEAMER: Quite a bit. I was talking to another head coach the other night on the phone and it was, the best recruiters have the logo on their shirt year in and year out. For me, it’s you can come here and compete against those guys. You want to compete against the best. Most years, you can bank on three of your opponents being in the top 10 if you take Clemson, Georgia, and (Texas) A&M right away. Not only do you play in the SEC, you play Clemson. Using that as a positive for us. And then, really, just the opportunity you have here. 

I learned from Kirby (Smart) that they can only take 25 a year. They have a lot of great players they’re not able to take. He used to say in staff meetings all the time, we better be thorough on in-state evaluations because the guys we don’t take are going to go play for South Carolina and Clemson and Auburn and Tennessee. 

For me, you battle it. There are some guys that no matter what, they’re probably going to Georgia or somewhere with a logo. I have that towel up from the SEC Championship game and I tell every recruit: I’ve got that towel up, we’ve been there. I’m not selling you something we haven’t done. We went there in 2010 and we have even more resources now to be successful than we had then, there’s no reason why we can’t get back. We had guys like Alshon Jeffery, DJ Swearinger, and all these guys that came. So, we can do it, you can be a part of the group that does it for the first time, and then also being able to compete against those guys. Then also realizing that, you know what, there are some guys that, that’s what they’re after. It’s finding the guys that love football that you can compete against them with.

GAMECOCKCENTRAL: The staff process after you were hired, it seemed like it was a lot. You’re putting together the staff, chasing down people, you have people leave, and you’re trying to recruit, too.

BEAMER: That was really, really, really hard. That was probably the hardest month I’ve had, which you would expect it to be. You’re trying to recruit, you’re trying to learn who your own players are, you’re trying to keep your current players from entering the transfer portal, and you’re trying to hire.

It’s not just 10 coaches. It’s 10 coaches, it’s graduate assistants, it’s analysts, it’s strength coaches, it’s Derrick Moore and player development, and everything else. There’s so many hires that are going on. A lot of good candidates out there, and you’re just trying to figure out what the best thing is, all in your gut. You’re on the phone for 45 minutes talking to a running backs coach and then right away you’ve got 8 text messages and 7 missed calls and now this situation is going on. It was just one of those, you constantly feel like you can’t dig out of this hole that you’re trying to dig out of and get caught up on stuff. 

Probably the biggest surprise for me that was different was just nowadays, so many of these assistant coaches, these buyouts they have in their contracts, was a little bit of an eye-opener. When I was at Oklahoma, if I wanted to leave Oklahoma to go coach at Texas as an assistant coach, it wasn’t that significant as a buyout that would have prevented me from going. Some of these people we hired, some of the people we talked to, they’ve got six figure buyouts. You’re figuring out the salary pool you have available, now you also have to think about paying this guy’s buyout. How’s that going to work? Is he paying it? Are we paying it? Is the university he’s coming from going to waive it? I felt like Jerry Maguire for literally like a month, trying to negotiate all these contracts, trying to get the money right for these guys. 

It was just so much coming at you. People that want to come here and coach, people you were talking to, the ever changing landscape, you think you have this thing finalized, now you don’t and stuff like that.

It’s crazy how it works out. I could have hired 10 names that people recognize 48 hours after I got the job and could have been done with it. Easily. I didn’t want to do that. I really wanted to be thorough and make sure I get the right people in here as well that they’re a fit what I’m about and what I want this place to be about also.

GAMECOCKCENTRAL: Having a great culture, it’s important in everything. The transfer portal guys seem to be a little more mature for what they’re looking for, have a better feel for what they’re looking for. Can this place be a portal destination? Is that a silly idea?

BEAMER: No. I want it to be a destination for high school, portal, people that want to come be a part of what this is about. I like it because I hear from so many people that visit here, recruits and their families, how real we are. That’s the one thing that always comes up. Some of the transfers that were here (recently), they said there are a lot of programs that talk about family, but you can feel it in this building, the way you guys interact and are around each other, which I like.

I think it can become a destination for any young man, transfer, high school, or not, that wants to be a part of playing winning football, being coached really, really hard, but having a great culture and environment that they’re a part of each and every day.  Last year was a little different because David Spaulding and all those guys that were brought in as transfers, we couldn’t bring them here with COVID and everything, so it was talking to them on Zooms and all that. Now, you can bring them here. 

So, visiting with these people (recently), they’ve been through the recruiting process before. They’re very black and white about what they’re looking for. Being able to see through the crap as well, the people that are just feeding them a line and who’s real. Then, being able to really hone in on, this is what I’m looking for and this is the kind of place for me. I like the other part of it, with the guys that have never been through recruiting before, that’s great and all. But this is certainly a different dynamic because you’ve got older guys that, they’re looking for something specific and they feel like we have it. 

GAMECOCKCENTRAL: You’re a family guy, so work/life balance, especially in season: how do you balance it? How do you structure your day?

BEAMER: It’s hard. I’m a morning person, so I’m gone long before everybody wakes up. I try to do enough during the week where not only my wife and kids can get around, but the other wives and kids on the staff. We have practice on Sunday night, my wife and kids are always here on Sunday. So that’s an opportunity to see them. Monday, Tuesday are later nights, so those are kind of longer days for sure. It’s tough. Wednesday night, we do a family dinner where it’s all our players, our families come up, so that’s a chance for everyone to see their families and to be around.

Wednesday nights are like a romper room because we call recruits that night as well. So, Luke Day’s kid, my kid, Nick Coleman’s kid and Chance Miller’s kid, they’re coming in here and (having) wrestling matches on the floor, and I’m trying to talk to recruits, so that’s a wild night. 

Then, Thursday for most college coaches is a day where you’re able to get out a little early and be around. So for me it’s trying to be present when I’m at home and make sure I’m invested in them. I’m fortunate that I have a job that allows me to inject my family into what I do, coming to practices and being around at games and things like that. It’s certainly tough, especially the recruiting piece of it, going on the road. My kids are now getting older where they’re playing sporting events and you’re not always in town for that. They played some stuff in the fall and you’re not able to be around for all of that.

For me, it’s get them involved in this as much as they can so they feel like they’re a part of it also and then when I am out of here, I don’t have a lot of hobbies other than coaching and my family. I used to play golf a lot, I don’t really do that anymore, so it’s really just spend time with my family or I’m here. My kids are young enough to where they still like being around me and my wife.

*** GamecockCentral.com will release even more material from our exclusive sit-down with Shane Beamer in future pieces.

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