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Shane Beamer

Shane Beamer

Wrapping up his fourth season leading the South Carolina Football program, Shane Beamer is enjoying his most successful season to date.

Beamer’s 2024 squad posted nine regular season wins, something that has been done just five times in school history. The Gamecocks recorded a school-record four wins against ranked opponents, including three in consecutive weeks as part of a season-ending six-game winning streak. He was the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Week following the Gamecocks’ upset win over Texas A&M and earned SEC Coach of the Year accolades. The Gamecocks will finish the season with their highest ranking since 2013.

Beamer, who owns a 29-21 record, has won more games through his first four seasons at Carolina than any other coach, one more than Steve Spurrier, the school’s all-time winningest coach. During his tenure he has posted victories over three coaches who have won national championships – Jimbo Fisher, Dabo Swinney and Mack Brown.

Named the Gamecocks’ 36th head football coach on Dec. 6, 2020, Beamer had a successful first season in Columbia, improving the Gamecocks by 3.5 games, from a 2-8 mark in 2020 to a 7-6 campaign in 2021, including a convincing win over North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. He tied the school record for wins by a first-year head coach, doubled the preseason’s expected win total and surpassed the win total of the two previous seasons combined, earning him a share of the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award, presented by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA). Safety Jaylan Foster earned All-America honors and three players were selected in the NFL Draft following his inaugural season.

In 2022, the team again exceeded expectations by recording eight wins, including three wins over ranked opponents. The Gamecocks won eight games for just the 15th time in 129 seasons and for the first time since 2017. The Gamecocks were ranked 23rd in the country in the final AP and USA Today Coaches’ polls. It marked the first time since 2013 that the Gamecocks finished the season ranked in the top-25 and the 10th time Carolina has finished the season ranked in the final AP poll. The Gamecocks defeated No. 5 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson in the final two games of the regular season, the first time Carolina has posted back-to-back wins over top-10 teams and just the seventh time in history that a school has defeated AP Top-10 opponents in consecutive weeks as an unranked team, the first since 2003. Punter Kai Kroeger earned All-America honors, leading a special teams unit ranked No. 1 in the country. Five players were selected in the NFL Draft off that squad, the most since 2013.

Challenged by one of the toughest schedules in the FBS and in a season mired by numerous injuries, decimating the offensive line most notably, the 2023 Gamecocks finished the campaign with a 5-7 mark, including a 3-5 ledger in the SEC. The squad was led all season by senior quarterback Spencer Rattler and senior wide receiver Xavier Legette. Rattler set the school’s single-season record for completions (275) and completion percentage (68.9), while his 3,186 passing yards was the third-highest total in school history. Legette, a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, led the team with 71 receptions for 1,255 yards and seven receiving touchdowns. His 1,255 receiving yards was the second-highest single-season mark in school history.

Prior to his first head coaching stint, Beamer had been an assistant coach at seven Football Bowl Subdivision schools for 21 seasons. During his career as an assistant, he coached in 17 bowl games, including a College Football Playoff National Championship Game, posted 18 non-losing seasons, six of those with double-digit victories, and his teams won 63 percent of its games. He has coached all three phases of the game – offense, defense and special teams.

Beamer is not new to Carolina. The Charleston, S.C. native, served as an assistant coach with the Gamecocks for four seasons from 2007-10 under head coach Steve Spurrier. In 2007, he served as the outside linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator. He mentored the cornerbacks in 2008, then coached the Spurs and strong safeties and was the special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator in 2009 and 2010, setting the foundation for the most successful run in school history.

In 2009 at South Carolina, Beamer was nominated for the Frank Broyles Award. His special teams’ units recorded five blocked kicks, tying for the SEC lead and for the eighth-highest total in the nation. He also helped coach a defensive unit that ranked third in the SEC and 15th in the country in total defense, and second in the league and eighth in the country in passing defense.

As the Gamecocks’ recruiting coordinator, his 2009 class was ranked 12th-best in the country, and the 2010 and 2011 classes were ranked in the Top 25.

During his tenure as recruiting coordinator, nine Gamecocks were selected in the NFL Draft, including first round selection Stephen Gilmore (Buffalo) and second round picks Alshon Jeffery (Chicago) and D.J. Swearinger (Houston).

The Gamecocks all-time winningest quarterback, Connor Shaw, and rushing touchdown leader, Marcus Lattimore, were also in the 2010 class.

Beamer has been a part of building programs throughout his career. He has been on three coaching staffs where the head coach was in his first or second season at the school. He joined Sylvester Croom’s staff at Mississippi State in his first season, Kirby Smart’s program at Georgia in his first season, and Lincoln Riley’s unit at Oklahoma in his second season.

Beamer came to Carolina from Oklahoma, where he served as the assistant head coach for offense and mentored the tight ends and H-backs for three highly-successful seasons. In 2020, Oklahoma ranked sixth in the country in scoring (43.0), 11th in total offense (494.7) and 14th in passing offense (315.0). In 2019, the Sooners led the nation in yards per play (8.0) and ranked third in total offense (537.6) and fourth in passing efficiency rating (187.0). Oklahoma led the nation in total offense (570.3), scoring offense (48.4) and yards per play (FBS-record 8.6), and ranked second in passing efficiency rating (194.9) in 2018.

Prior to his arrival in Norman, Beamer spent two seasons on the staff at Georgia as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator under Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs posted a 21-7 combined record with Beamer on staff. In 2017, the Bulldogs won the SEC Championship and finished second in the nation, falling in the CFP title game to Alabama in overtime. His special teams ranked eighth nationally in net punting (41.7), and 20th in kickoff returns (23.5) while blocking four kicks.

The son of Hall of Fame coach, Frank Beamer, he worked with his father as the associate head coach and running backs coach at Virginia Tech from 2011-15. In his first year, he coached David Wilson, who broke the Tech single-season rushing record and was named All-American and ACC Player of the Year and went on to become a first-round NFL draft selection by the New York Giants. Shane served as the Hokies’ acting head coach in the 2014 Military Bowl win while his father watched from the press box following throat surgery.

Beamer’s first full-time coaching position was at Mississippi State, joining the Bulldogs in 2004 as cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator. In his first two seasons at State, he guided three defensive backs to SEC All-Freshman Team accolades. He maintained the recruiting coordinator title but made the move to running backs coach in the spring of 2006 where he tutored running back Anthony Dixon to SEC All-Freshman honors.

Beamer spent three seasons (2001-03) as a graduate assistant at Tennessee, helping with the cornerbacks and assisting in all special teams areas. He also oversaw game opponent scouting while earning a master’s degree in sport management in December 2003.

Before joining the staff at UT, he worked one season (2000) as a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech, helping with the Yellow Jacket quarterbacks and wide receivers.

A December 1999 graduate of Virginia Tech, Beamer was a member of five bowl teams (1995-99 seasons) and three Big East Conference championship squads on the Hokie football team as a long snapper and wide receiver. He was a long snapper on the 1999 Virginia Tech team that played for the BCS National Championship.

Beamer and his wife, Emily, are the parents of three children – two daughters, Sutton and Olivia, both born in Columbia, and a son, Hunter, born in Blacksburg, Va.

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