What Shane Beamer, new assistant coaches had to say at Friday's news conference

South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer met with the media on Friday to introduce the Gamecocks newest assistant coaches.

Below is a quick summary of what Beamer as well as newly hired WR coach James Coley and RB coach Marquel Blackwell had to say.

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SHANE BEAMER

– Beamer begins the press conference by congratulating Nick Saban on his tremendous career.

– Busy time period for the coaches now with recruiting. Since the recruiting period opened on Friday, Beamer and the staff have been out on the road in multiple states. Shares that he’ll be going to a basketball game tonight to watch a recruit.

– Speaking about the new coaches: says it’s his job to go through everything to see where they can be better. Believes continuity is an important part to success but felt like they needed to be better in some areas.

– That was the case with adding former Texas A&M RB coach Marquel Blackwell. Interviewed three coaches for this position. What they like about Blackwell is his ability to recruit, develop, and manage the room. Had never spoke with him prior to interviewing him but he came highly recommend.

– When Jimbo Fisher was fired he knew he wanted to find a way to get WR coach James Coley to South Carolina. Had a chance to work together in Georgia in 2016.

– Knows that Coley will be someone that will make this team better and feels the same way with Blackwell. Likes when they can add assistant coaches who have head coaching or coordinator experiences.

– With the addition of Coley, they’ve moved Justin Stepp to TE coach. Believes Stepp can use his knowledge in the passing game to help the TE room be better in the passing game. Felt that was something they need to be better at. Adds that he believes this will help Stepp’s coaching career because it’ll help him grow as a coach as he coaches another position. Beamer shares how throughout his coaching career he did just that and it’s helped him grow to becoming a head coach.

– Points that there’s a hunger with this group and they’re a mature group

– Beamer syas they’ll be starting spring practices after spring break. Spring game will be on April 20.

– Trai Jones is working through some things and is trying to figure out the next step in his career.

– OL Jakai Moore has looked great during workouts.

– A week or two ago Beamer got word that Edmond was interested in coming back. **Beamer gave a long, long answer… here’s some of what he said but we’ll upload a video of it after the press conference**. Beamer thought long and hard about it. Had a conversation with Edmond as well as talking with 7-8 leaders of the team. In the end, it came down to doing what he felt was gonna be in the best interest of the program. Said when Edmond left, he was ticked off about it but Edmond handled it the right way. There are other players who have left this program who Beamer said he would’ve said no to if they wanted to come back. Added that Gilber’s parents were getting up in age and he felt like he needed to get back home to the state of Florida. Isn’t naive that NIL played a role but when he left USC he did it the right way, never was a problem when he was at USC, and the players respected him. Shares that Gilber just wanted the opportunity to finish what he started. Won’t be wearing his old number (8). Instead, he’ll wear No.55 — the number he wore as a freshman at USC. Beamer adds that it also sends a message out there as to how special USC is. Says you have a guy who likely would’ve started next year at a school who just went undefeated in the regular season and won a conference title and yet he’d rather be back competing for a role at South Carolina.

– Beamer didn’t anticipate using the portal as much as they did but when guys leave, it created more opportunities to fill those spots. Shares that he would love to use the portal here and there but the bulk of their roster still being high school guys that him and his staff recruited.

– Shane Beamer shares that there were about 5-7 QBs in the portal, who he spoke with, who wanted to be promised that they were gonna be the starting QB. Beamer told them they’d have to compete. Said Dowell Loggains’ number of guys would be higher since he talked to more QBs.

JAMES COLEY

– USC’s new WR coach shares how much of an honor it is to be here. Has memories of being on the other sideline of games and how electric it is here.

– Like Coley, he arrives in a room that will feature a lot of new faces. When I asked him how do you get the most out of your WRs when you are going through changes like that, he says it’s all about being upfront with players. Shares that’s what Beamer did recently with explaining to the team why they brought in new WRs.

– When asked what we can expect from his wide outs. Says he prides himself in “changing the game.” Whether that be an explosive play in the passing game or making a difference in the blocking game to spring a long run.

– He’s been recruiting on the road while also getting connected with the players who are here. Has a group chat and says it’s been going well as they develop through communication.

– What stands out about Beamer to Coley is that he’s family oriented, like the late-great Bobby Bowden was (who he coached for), is very organized, and truly knows his players. He knows the stories on every single guy because he truly cares about his players.

Marquel Blackwell

– Talking with Rocket Sanders the past few days he’s excited to see him compete. Had the opportunity to coach against him during his time at Texas A&M.

– Needs to have tough and explosive guys in the RB room. Guys who can be three down guys.

– Calls himself a “Ball Coach.” With his background of being a QB, and coaching other positions, he’s able to teach he’s running backs more than just what they have to do. He’s able to help them understand the big picture as to why they’re doing things and why other players are doing what they’re doing.

– His mindset is to stay in his lane. Wants to develop guys and get the most out of them. Says he can help players with mental toughness but they need to be physical.

– “I’m all ball.” Says his wife and kids won’t be here until about May so he’s gonna be focused on the players.

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