Beamer’s best: 5 moments that stood out in South Carolina coach’s SEC Media Days debut
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer showed palpable excitement in his inaugural SEC Media Days press conference Monday.
He described spending afternoons as tight ends coach at Oklahoma watching the SEC Network in his office and how he kept up with SEC Media Days each summer as an assistant coach. Now in his first year at the Gamecocks’ helm, Beamer had plenty to say about the upcoming season. Here are five top highlights from his main speech in Hoover, Alabama.
A chip on his shoulder
Beamer is the son of longtime Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer. Now that he’s taking on the top job for the first time in his coaching career, he fielded questions around following his father’s legacy without falling into his shadow.
Shane Beamer said he was accustomed to other kids in his childhood saying he was starting on the football team because of his dad’s position. Throughout his assistant coaching career, he said he made a point to make his own name on his work ethic and accomplishments.
“When I got into coaching, whether it’s right or wrong, I’ve always tried to keep that chip on my shoulder or edge about myself to prove myself for sure,” he said.
Getting tight ends involved, now and in the future
Beamer said he’s used to fans asking if the offense will include throwing to the tight ends this year, and his answer is always a resounding yes. He said he’s used to utilizing tight ends during his time at Oklahoma and that he’s working to recruit the best tight end talent to South Carolina.
He also included a not-so-subtle nod to four-star class of 2022 prospect Oscar Delp.
“We want the premier tight ends in America,” Beamer said. “That’s the way we’re recruiting right now, to go get those guys.”
Leaning on the running back room
Where there’s uncertainty around inexperienced quarterback Luke Doty and many of the Gamecocks’ young wide receivers, Beamer does have full confidence in his running back corps.
Beamer made special mentions of All-SEC running back Kevin Harris and senior ZaQuandre White as potential leaders for 2021. But he also had good news to share about tailback MarShawn Lloyd, who is on track to debut in 2021 after tearing his ACL last summer.
“He’s fully healed, doing a great job in rehab and is back to full strength,” Beamer said.
The ‘in-state rival’
Beamer made the point that it hasn’t been long since 2010, when he was on staff at South Carolina and the Gamecocks defeated a host of strong opponents en route to an SEC East championship.
But there was one team Beamer didn’t specifically identify at the podium — Clemson.
“We beat Alabama when they were No. 1 in the country. We beat Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and our in-state rival all in the same season,” he said.
Though Clemson currently holds a six-game winning streak over South Carolina, Beamer brought attention to the five seasons before 2014, when the Gamecocks beat the Tigers from 2009-13. He still didn’t mention the name.
“Within the last 10 years, we were in the midst of beating our in-state rival five years in a row,” he said.
Relentless optimism
Beamer acknowledged there are question marks around Doty’s experience, creating an offensive scheme around the current players and building back after last year’s 2-8 season. But that hasn’t hurt any of his enthusiasm for the upcoming year.
Beamer stressed how some of South Carolina’s best moments — like clinching the SEC East in 2010 and tallying three consecutive 11-win seasons from 2011-13 — weren’t that long ago. He said the Gamecocks aren’t too far from making it back to that point, but he’s planning to take them even further.
“I am 100% convinced that the best days of South Carolina football are right in front of us,” he said. “I couldn’t be more excited about that.”
