'We have to keep maximizing the potential of this team': Beamer taking South Carolina football to new heights
South Carolina was in one of its roughest hours. It had just finished off a 2-8 season, ending 2020 with a 41-18 loss to Kentucky. Next on the team’s to-do list would be finding a new head coach after firing Will Muschamp.
As the final minutes of the final game ticked away, the unofficial news broke that the Gamecocks found their guy. Shane Beamer, the son of Frank Beamer and a coach during the Steve Spurrier days, was hired as the next head coach.
Less than three years since that fateful day, Beamer has slowly started to turn the Gamecocks into a winner. He’s gone 15-11 (7-9 SEC) with two bowl game appearances.
“We’ve made a lot of progress the last two seasons. There’s no doubt about it. We’ve accomplished a lot of firsts,” Beamer said in an interview with On3’s Jesse Simonton. “But we have to keep going. We have to keep maximizing the potential of this team.”
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Beamer was already well-known amongst Gamecock fans before arriving in December 2020. He was an assistant under Steve Spurrier from 2007-10, and helped land in-state talent such as Marcus Lattimore, Alshon Jeffery, Stephon Gilmore and Jadaveon Clowney. But when he came back to become head coach, he quickly became a fan favorite.
There’s an infectious personality that comes with Beamer. It’s hard not to like him.
But while Beamer will tell you he’s continuing to grow as a coach, his persona hasn’t changed for anybody.
“When I became a head coach I wasn’t going to try and be somebody that I’m because I feel like that’s how you’re supposed to act as a head football coach. Are there things that I’ve taken from Kirby Smart? Yes. Are there things that I’ve taken from Lincoln Riley or Philip Fulmer or Steve Spurrier, or dad? Yeah, but at the end of the day I’m going to be me. I realize how blessed I am to be in this position,” he said.
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If there’s one thing to know about Beamer, it’s that he enjoys to have fun with his team. He’s been in a handful of viral videos, most notably when he turned his swag on to Soulja Boy before SEC Media Days and one where he facetimed players to see how they’d respond. And it’s not some gimmick.
“There’s only 14 of these positions as a head coach in the SEC. It’s really high pressure and it’s extremely demanding. Every day is an adventure, but I’m going to enjoy the role that I’m in,” Beamer said. “Hopefully, me being me, and that realness, that genuineness resonates with people. I want to be approachable, not some standoff guy because I’m a head football coach in the SEC.”
But once the season starts, it’s all business for him. It’s going to be an important one for the Gamecocks, who will be looking to take another big step in 2023. They no longer are the underdog, feel good story of college football. They will be the hunted.
“We can’t assume that because things went one way in 2022 that it’s automatically going to go that way again in 2023. So I’ve challenged our coaches to be better in every area,” Beamer said. “We have to find better ways to do the same things. Don’t just be status quo. From the training room, equipment room, nutrition, the weight room, coaching, how you teach a drill or scheme, let’s be better in every area because we play in the toughest conference in America.”
