Anonymous SEC coach calls Shane Beamer a 'rising star'

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer has quickly turned around the Gamecocks program after taking over ahead of the 2021 season.

South Carolina went 7-6 in his first season and 8-5 last year, including wins over top 10 teams Tennessee and Clemson to end the 2022 regular season.

It’s clear that Beamer has the Gamecocks heading in the right direction, and he has made some in the college football world a believer. An anonymous SEC coach told Athlon Sports that Beamer has a bright future as a head coach.

“Shane is a rising star in this industry,” the anonymous coach said, via Athlon. “It’s not like the Steve Spurrier years when they made Clemson afraid, but they’re making more noise than any Carolina coaching staff has since the Tigers started winning nattys.”

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The anonymous coach went on to say that the Gamecocks might take a step back defensively this year due to the talent they lost. However, long-term, he expects South Carolina to do well under Beamer.

While the Gamecocks lost some talent on defense, they do return Spencer Rattler at quarterback and Juice Wells at receiver. Those two should help Beamer’s squad put up plenty of points on offense this fall.

“They lost a ton on defense,” the anonymous coach said. “It’s hard to plug them in as that for-sure No. 2 team in the East when they’re dropping portal guys on defense to power programs.”

South Carolina coach Shane Beamer looks back on Nyckoles Harbor’s recruitment

In addition to returning Rattler and Wells, South Carolina also brought in a talented freshman class. The group is headlined by five-star prospect Nyckoles Harbor, who chose the Gamecocks on Signing Day in February.

With the five-star athlete finally set to begin practice with the Gamecocks soon, Beamer was recently asked about the process of getting Harbor to commit to the school.

“You would hope that every time you get a prospect on campus, they feel better and better about who you are,” Beamer said. “I guess he came down the first summer that I got hired as the head coach…He came down with his high school coach and remember that obviously being a big deal and him having a good time. Then last summer, he was at that cookout we did in July, right before we started practice. It was the last Friday in July. We did that cookout in the stadium. He had a great time at that. Felt good about things from that standpoint because of the relationship that he had with other recruits that night.”

Harbor ended the 2023 recruiting cycle as the No. 21 overall player and the nation’s No. 1 athlete, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

He is the program’s first five star recruit since Jordan Burch in 2020 cycle.

“When he decides to use one of his official visits on you, you feel pretty good about things,” Beamer said. “Now he came to the Georgia game so you don’t feel good about that. But he had a great experience and credit to him that he was able to watch our performance that day but still feel that this was the place he wanted to be. We lost to Georgia. I remember going to dinner with him that night and just feeling — not better about the loss but just feeling okay, this is the right kind of young man.”