Shane Beamer reminisces on what it was like to be a recruiting coordinator at Mississippi State in 2004

When South Carolina faces Mississippi State on Saturday, it will be a little extra special for head coach Shane Beamer. It will be a reunion of sorts for him.

Beamer met his wife, Emily, in Starkville, Miss., where she was born and raised. She graduated from Mississippi State and her parents still live there.

All Beamer has been told is to expect a lot of people at his home.

“A big contingent of people from Mississippi will be in my house this weekend from what I’ve been told with people coming to visit, as well as her friends and family,” he said.

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On a more personal level, this is where Beamer got his start. After his playing days were over, he became a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech and Tennessee. But it would be Mississippi State that gave him his first full-time coaching gig.

Beamer worked under head coach Sylvester Croom for three years. He coached defensive backs and running backs.

“A place that will always be special to me because of the three years that I spent there working for coach Croom. And then, the many great people and friends that I have there,” Beamer said.

But Beamer did more than just coach. He was also the program’s recruiting coordinator. He laughs about it now because of how much the job has changed since he was there.

“Back then, you went out on the road recruiting, and I could remember sitting in my office on MapQuest…You got on MapQuest and you typed in the directions, ‘Okay, I’m going to be at this high school, and from that high school, I’m going to this high school,'” he explained.

“You just type it in and you print it out, and you’re like, okay, thank God. Hopefully this is right because if it’s not Im in the middle of Mississippi and have nowhere to go.”

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The technology has also steadily improved over time. It makes his job much easier as a head coach when it comes to recruiting now.

“Now, if somebody tells me Joe Lyle is a fantastic recruit, I can pull up his name on my phone and watch his video in five seconds, which he was and is still,” Beamer said. “Back then, you had to put a DVD or VHS tape in the mail, send it to the high school coach, he had to mail it back to you.”

However, it was more than just the nitty gritty things that Beamer had to do. He also needed to be able to develop relationships, which was a struggle at first.

“I had never done on the road recruiting in my life at that point because I had been a graduate assistant for four years. As a GA, you’re not allowed to go out on the road recruiting. So the first time I ever went to a high school was at Mississippi State. You’re just learning as you go, and thankfully, I had some veteran coaches on that staff to help me.

“I’ll never forget the first high school I went into was Hazelhurst High School in Mississippi. That was going to be my first stop Monday morning. On the road recruiting and getting the car Sunday and driving from Starkville. And I just assume that I’m just going to get to Hazelhurst and find a hotel. But there’s no hotels in Hazelhurst…It taught me that you better have a plan like where you’re going to stay and not just type out directions on MapQuest. Make sure you know where you’re staying and how you’re getting places.”

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It’s safe to say Beamer has learned a lot since his early days of recruiting.

“I love when I’m on the road recruiting now. I just type in a school, pull it up on my phone and it takes me right to it,” he said. “Back then, it was a process of typing out directions and pray to God there’s not road construction or something and you have to detour.”

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