by Beamer Ball is coming to South Carolina.
Shane Beamer, Oklahoma’s assistant head coach for offense, has agreed to a deal to become the Gamecocks’ next head football coach, sources told ESPN.
An official announcement is expected as early as Sunday.
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Beamer, the son of Hall of Fame coach Frank Beamer, received strong support from some of South Carolina’s most prominent football alumni and met with South Carolina officials two weeks ago. Beamer was an assistant on South Carolina’s staff under Steve Spurrier from 2007-10.
In 2009 and 2010, Beamer was South Carolina’s recruiting coordinator when the Gamecocks assembled some of their best recruiting classes in school history, serving as a foundation for three consecutive 11-win seasons and three consecutive top-10 finishes in the final polls.
Running back Marcus Lattimore, the school’s all-time leader with 38 rushing touchdowns, was a member of that 2010 recruiting class along with quarterback Connor Shaw, the school’s all-time winningest quarterback.
“Coach Beamer is someone that leaves an impression on you with his love and enthusiasm for the game,” Lattimore told ESPN. “He makes you want to play for him. He’s smart and personable. He loves his family. That should tell you all you need to know about how I feel about him and this job.”
The Gamecocks’ 2009 signing class included cornerback Stephon Gilmore, receiver Alshon Jeffery and safety D.J. Swearinger, all of whom are still playing in the NFL.
Patrick DiMarco, a Pro Bowl fullback with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015, played at South Carolina when Beamer was on the staff and highly endorsed the hire.
“I have full confidence that Shane will put together a heck of a staff that will light up the scoreboard and make Carolina exciting again,” DiMarco told ESPN. “Shane has ties to the state and the university and owned the state during his time at USC as the recruiting coordinator, helping bring in South Carolina recruits like Marcus Lattimore, Alshon Jeffery, Jadeveon Clowney, Stephon Gilmore and many more.”
Los Angeles Chargers Pro Bowl defensive end Melvin Ingram, a consensus All-American at South Carolina as a senior, recently tweeted that Beamer would “bring the culture back.”
Beamer, 43, has never been a primary play-caller on offense or defense during his career, but has experience on both sides of the ball and has also coordinated special teams. He has spent the last three years as Lincoln Riley’s right-hand man on offense and also coached the Sooners’ tight ends and H-backs.
Riley said last month that Beamer would be a “really good head coach” and added that Beamer had “great experience, being able to work with several different guys and several different programs, different parts of the country.”
South Carolina talked to Riley about the Gamecocks’ head job heading into the 2016 season before hiring Will Muschamp. Riley, 32 at the time, was in his first season as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.
Beamer, having played for his father at Virginia Tech, wanted to make his own name in the coaching world before returning to coach under his dad from 2011-15 as associate head coach and running backs coach. Before returning to his alma mater, Beamer coached under Phillip Fulmer at Tennessee, Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State and Spurrier at South Carolina.
And after leaving Virginia Tech when his father retired following the 2015 season, Beamer worked under Kirby Smart at Georgia for two seasons, making it Beamer’s fourth different SEC stop.
Beamer replaces Muschamp, who was fired on Nov. 15 with three games remaining in his fifth season on the job. Muschamp was 28-30 overall at South Carolina and recorded more wins in his first three seasons (22) than any coach in school history, but the Gamecocks were just 6-14 in Muschamp’s last 20 games.
Only seven times in the history of the school has South Carolina won more than eight games in a season, and Spurrier was responsible for four of those seven seasons.
Some of the other candidates mentioned in connection with South Carolina’s coaching search included Liberty’s Hugh Freeze, Louisville’s Scott Satterfield, Louisiana’s Billy Napier, Coastal Carolina’s Jamey Chadwell and Florida offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson.
