Jimbo Fisher shares thoughts on Shane Beamer as a coach

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher is impressed, but not surprised, by what Shane Beamer has built in just two years as the coach at South Carolina. Beamer led the Gamecocks to a bowl victory last season and has them off to a 4-2 start this year as they prepare to face the Aggies on Saturday.

Fisher believes Beamer has been able to find that success thanks in part to the lessons learned from his father Frank Beamer, the Virginia Tech coach from 1987-2015.

“I’ve never coached with him,” Fisher said of Shane Beamer. “I mean, I know him. He’s a very great guy and he’s been around coaching his whole life. His dad was one of the great coaches in college football history. So when you grow up like that, you understand probably how to relate to people, how to talk to people and what the game’s all about. The ups and downs. I’m sure he has a lot of experiences even where his dad, but he got to experience it. Just like my kids.”

Frank Beamer is the winningest coach in Hokies history, and Shane Beamer was just 10 years old when his dad accepted the Virginia Tech job.

After getting his own start in coaching by the age of 23, Shane Beamer went on to serve as the associate head coach for his father’s final five seasons in Blacksburg from 2011-15. He was also the associate head coach to Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma from 2018-20, where he played a part in recruiting now-Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler.

Jimbo Fisher compared the relationship between Shane and Frank Beamer to that of him and his own children, saying that it only makes sense to have a strong feel for the game after growing up around it.

“Sometimes I talk to my kids and they’re 10 years older than they are about situations because they’ve just been around it their whole life,” he said. “I think just being a coach’s son gives you a lot of vision and understanding sometimes even when you’re a young coach that you normally wouldn’t have because you’ve had those experiences growing up. I have great respect for his dad and great respect for Shane. They’re doing an outstanding job with what he’s doing at South Carolina.”

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South Carolina is coming off of a bye and on a three-game winning streak following a 24-14 road win against then-No. 13 Kentucky in Week 6. Meanwhile, Texas A&M is off to just a 3-3 start after opening the year at No. 6 in the preseason AP poll.

Kickoff between the Gamecocks and Aggies is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday in Columbia.