The shadow of his Hall of Fame father looms large, but Shane Beamer embraces that shadow and said Monday during his introductory news conference as South Carolina‘s head coach that his father, Frank Beamer, would be around the Gamecocks’ program often.
To this day, Shane Beamer still relies on his father’s advice, be it X’s and O’s and/or leadership, and joked that the great golf courses in the area and Frank’s six grandchildren now residing in the Carolinas would only ensure that his dad would be a fixture in Columbia.
“Whatever excuse we have to get him down here … I’m pretty confident you’ll be seeing him a lot around this program,” Shane Beamer said.
And not only that, but Shane hopes to bring to South Carolina’s program his own version of “Beamer Ball,” a mantra that defined Frank’s legendary 29-year career at Virginia Tech.
“Beamer Ball may be copyrighted up in Blacksburg,” said Shane, who played and coached under his father. “But when you talk about Beamer Ball, you talk about attacking, talk about the ability to score on offense, defense and special teams. That’s what I think about when somebody says Beamer Ball.
“We may not use the term ‘Beamer Ball’ exactly, but playing that way and having that aspect as a part of our program is certainly something we’re going to be about.”
Shane Beamer, 43, takes over at South Carolina for Will Muschamp, who was fired with three games remaining in his fifth season on the job. Only seven times in the history of the school has South Carolina won more than eight games in a season, four of those under Steve Spurrier.
Beamer spent four seasons on Spurrier’s staff from 2007-10 and was the Gamecocks’ recruiting coordinator in 2009 and 2010 when they reeled in some of their best recruiting classes in school history.
“As far as obstacles, I don’t look at it that way. I just see great opportunities and great things in front of me,” Beamer said. “The resources are here to allow us to be successful. I don’t see any negatives. … I’ve coached at so many places in my 21-year career, and this is a unique place in so many amazing ways. It’s why my wife (Emily) and I wanted to come back here so much because we know how special it is and what it can be.”
Beamer, currently Oklahoma‘s assistant head coach for offense, plans to remain with the Sooners through the Big 12 championship game and said he would pull double duty the next several weeks.
“It’s very important to me to go back to Oklahoma and finish the season with those guys,” Beamer said. “I want to be loyal to those guys. I talked to our players (at South Carolina) about trust and communication and loyalty and didn’t think it was fair to have that conversation with them and then leave those guys high and dry at Oklahoma.”
Sources told ESPN that Beamer will receive a five-year contract that will pay him $2.75 million per year in addition to incentives.
“I worked for 10 years to get back to this place,” Beamer said. “The dream doesn’t end here. It’s just getting started.”
The Gamecocks lost 14 of their last 20 games under Muschamp before he was fired, and making the South Carolina job even more difficult is the way in-state rival Clemson has flourished under Dabo Swinney and won two of the last four national championships. Clemson has won six straight against South Carolina. That’s after the Gamecocks won five in a row in the series from 2009-13 and put together three consecutive 11-win seasons during that stretch.
Beamer, asked about the “Clemson problem,” wasn’t backing down.
“You mention that program in the Upstate,” said Beamer, careful not to mention Clemson by name. “They’re certainly on a pretty good run right now, but I was here before, and we were on a pretty dang good run ourselves against those guys. It’s a big challenge, and we’re going to work every single day in recruiting and in this facility to have a team we can be proud of on the field.
“I certainly have respect for those guys (Clemson), but I look forward to getting in there and competing. I know that for a fact.”
As he tackles his first head coaching job, Beamer said one of the main qualities he hopes to take from his father is his steadiness and genuineness no matter what the situation.
“People recognize authenticity, and that’s what we’re going to be,” Beamer said.