Report: Shane Beamer, South Carolina part ways with RB coach Montario Hardesty

South Carolina has reportedly made a staff change, as head coach Shane Beamer is moving on from running backs coach Montario Hardesty, according to multiple reports. Hardesty had served in the role since the 2021 season.

The running back position has been something of a struggle for South Carolina in recent years, and 2023 top rusher Mario Anderson entered the transfer portal after the season. He had carried for just more than 700 yards this season.

Hardesty is the first of what could be a handful of staff changes for the Gamecocks as Beamer tries to get things back on a better track after a disappointing 2023 campaign.

Hardesty played college football at Tennessee as a running back before getting drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2010. Injuries shortened his NFL career before he got into coaching. Prior to joining the South Carolina staff, Hardesty coached wide receivers for Charlotte.

Beamer recently discussed the new recruiting paradigm

For the son of a coach like Beamer, watching college football change over the years has been a process. Beamer’s been around the game seemingly forever.

But recruiting, in particular, has really shifted over the last decade or so.

“It’s changed so much. The attention on recruiting, the technology,” Beamer said on the Andy Staples On3 show in December. “Probably more than anything, Andy, is just the fact that everybody knows each other, all these recruits just because of social media, all-star games, combines. The world is a lot smaller in a lot of ways, without a doubt.”

While the world is smaller in some ways, the competition is more fierce than ever. It’s a stark change from when Beamer was first getting into coaching himself, when things moved much more slowly.

For one, the rules didn’t allow for quite as much communication.

Take Beamer’s first stint at South Carolina, for instance, when the Gamecocks were able to land in-state prospects like Alshon Jeffery and Stephon Gilmore.

“I think when we were recruiting Alshon I don’t even think texting was legal to recruits at that point,” Shane Beamer said. “I think you had to like e-mail and literally write hand-written letters, if I’m not mistaken. I’m pretty sure that you couldn’t text back then to recruits.”

The lesson from the recruitment of those key players, though, was this: You have to win in state as a starting point. That’s the way to build a base at South Carolina.

“Absolutely the success that we were able to have here previously started with being able to keep the best players in South Carolina home, and we’ve done that now for the most part, signing four out of the top five guys in South Carolina this year,” Shane Beamer said. “Last year same thing, guys we brought in like Markee Anderson, so we’ve really done a good job recruiting this state first.”