South Carolina is bringing Shane Beamer “home” to lead its football program. Tony Morrell has confirmed the initial report by Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.
The Charleston, S.C., native who is currently the assistant head coach at Oklahoma has accepted the Gamecocks head coaching position, replacing Will Muschamp who was fired on Nov. 15 after posting a 28-30 record.
Beamer was previously an assistant coach at South Carolina under Steve Spurrier from 2007-10. While in Columbia, Beamer coached on the defensive side of the ball, coordinated recruiting and special teams and also was instrumental behind the scenes in assisting Spurrier with assembling arguably the best coaching staff in program history.
All-American wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, NFL defensive end Devin Taylor, NFL tight end Jerell Adams and three-year starting cornerback Jimmy Legree were among the players Beamer personally recruited for the Gamecocks during his time in the Palmetto State.
After putting the finishing touches on the Gamecocks’ 2011 recruiting class, which included No. 1 overall recruit Jadeveon Clowney, Beamer departed Carolina to become the assistant head coach and running back coach under his father, Frank Beamer, who is the winningest coach in Hokies’ history. Beamer was heavily involved in all aspects of running the Hokies program from 2011-15. He led the Virginia Tech program as the acting head coach for the 2014 Military Bowl, a 33-17 win against Cincinnati, while the elder Beamer was sidelined with throat surgery.
In January of 2016, after the elder Beamer retired and Virginia Tech hired Memphis head coach Justin Fuente to replace him, Beamer joined the staff at Georgia as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach under Kirby Smart. Beamer coordinated special teams for the Bulldogs 2017 team, which won the Southeastern Conference title and advanced to the national championship game of the college football playoff.
In 2018, Beamer accepted a position under Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma as the assistant head coach for offense. During his time in Norman, he’s been heavily involved in all aspects of running the Sooners program, drawing praise from Riley for his attention to detail and other attributes that make a quality head coaching candidate.
Beamer’s coaching career began in 2000 as a graduate assistant under George O’Leary at Georgia Tech. He followed that up with a three-year stint under Phillip Fulmer at Tennessee from 2001-03.
His first on-field assistant coaching position came in 2004 when Sylvester Croom hired him to coach cornerbacks at Mississippi State. It was there that Beamer was united with future South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson. In 2006, Beamer became the recruiting coordinator for the Bulldogs.
Beamer was a walk-on long-snapper for Virginia Tech from 1995-99 and played on the Hokies national runner-up team in ’99 with quarterback Michael Vick and others.
