Shane Beamer discusses what he's looking for in offensive coordinator

South Carolina didn’t have much time to savor the win over Clemson before Shane Beamer had to think about what was next for his coaching staff. 

Two days after the Gamecocks’ big win over the Tigers, Marcus Satterfield left to join Matt Rhule at Nebraska and leaving the team’s offensive coordinator spot vacant. 

It’s a big hire for Beamer at the end of his second season at South Carolina, and he explained in detail what he’s looking for on 107.5 FM’s Halftime Show with Jay Phillips and Terry Ford. 

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“Certainly I don’t want to deviate and completely reinvent the wheel in what we’ve done. People can say they’re pro-style and did all this. To me, nowadays pretty much every offense is doing the same thing. For me, there were quote-unquote pro-style elements to our offense this year. There were certainly spread-type elements to our offense this year. For me, I said it the day I got hired: I want to be balanced. That doesn’t mean you’re 50-50 but have the ability to run the ball and throw the ball,” Beamer said on the radio.

“That’s important to me: being able to get the ball to our quote-unquote playmakers consistently. Being able to attack and throw the ball downfield is important to me. It’s all about the personnel we have and we have a chance to have some really good personnel on this team in 2023 for a new coordinator to be coming into. There’s no question we need to be more consistent on offense than what we were the last two seasons.”

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South Carolina had a largely up-and-down year offensively which culminated in two electric offensive performances against Tennessee and Clemson. 

The Gamecocks put up 94 points and over 1,000 yards over the last two games, Satterfield’s parting gift to the program before leaving for Lincoln. 

Because of that and Beamer’s undoubted success in his first two years, he said there is a ton of interest in the position and he’ll take his time making the hire. 

“This opportunity is a lot more attractive than what it was two years ago. There are a lot of things we have to get done. I spent the last two days meeting with players on this team regarding where they are on things and the decisions these guys have to make,” he said.

“We’ll get to this coordinator search in time. The good news is we don’t start bowl practices for a couple of weeks and have to hit the road recruiting. It’s not like it’s something that has to be done right now. Certainly, I’d like to get something done as soon as possible.” 

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Beamer mentioned he’ll cast a wide net and will look at every level of football for a coordinator if he’s a good enough coach and fits the culture he’s trying to build at South Carolina. 

“You have to be a credible coach, don’t get me wrong, and be able to coordinate an offense. But you have to be able to fit in what we’re doing in this program from a culture standpoint and be somebody that would want to fit into what we have here in this football program. That’s right at the top. Wherever they come from–whether it be NFL, Power 5, Group of 5, FCS–to me, coaching is coaching,” he said.

“There are some great coaches out there, there’s no question about it…I’m not going to back myself into a corner and say it has to come from this level. Obviously, this league we coach in is a bear and a challenge. The more experience you have and familiarity is a bonus but I’m not going to limit the pool by eliminating people because they haven’t coached in the SEC or at the Power 5 level.” 

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Satterfield rejoins Rhule at Nebraska where the two will coach for at least the fourth time together. They spent time together at Temple, Baylor and the Carolina Panthers while Rhule was head coach there. 

“We want to wish Marcus well getting to reconnect with coach Rhule at Nebraska. He’s someone (Satterfield’s) worked with at multiple places,” Beamer said. “Not just Matt but other coaches on that staff coach Rhule is going to hire that Marcus and his family have grown up around. It’s a cool opportunity for him and (we) appreciate his work here in the program the last couple of years.”

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