Shane Beamer talks OC search, current staff roles, bowl game play-caller

Shane Beamer spent Saturday in Atlanta doing SEC Network duty and Sunday morning driving back and doing a little bit of everything in the downtime before South Carolina’s bowl game. 

The calls in the little over three-hour trip from Atlanta to Columbia ranged from bowl game scenarios with Ray Tanner to recruiting to the Gamecocks’ offensive coordinator search. 

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“Today? Beamer asked when asked if he spoke with candidates. “A couple.”

Sunday was the first chance Beamer had to update the coordinator search since going on 107.5 earlier this week and touched on a range of topics. 

The job this time around

The last time Beamer hired a coordinator was in the weeks after taking the South Carolina job, a frenzied sprint trying to not only hire a play caller but nearly everyone else in the building, too. 

This time around, it’s less hectic now able to hire just one person and understanding how he can fit with the offensive staffers already in place. 

“For one, it’s different now. Two years ago I was trying to put together an entire building of people with 10 coaches, coordinators, a strength staff, player development and on and on and on,” he said. “This year is a little different because you have pieces in place. Certainly, when you’re hiring a coordinator, particularly on the offensive or defensive side of the ball, everyone is affected.”

This is probably the most attractive the Gamecocks’ offensive coordinator position has looked in a long time, coming off two big wins where the offense put up 94 points and over 1,000 yards. 

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“Not that it wasn’t appealing two years ago, but it’s a lot more appealing now. There’s a lot more interest in it now than it was two years ago when I was trying to hire an offensive coordinator,” he said. “The amount of people who’ve reached out to me like sitting head coaches to NFL coaches to current coordinators has been pretty impressive.”

A timeline

Beamer also mentioned nothing is “imminent” but he won’t dilly dally on the search either. 

“Certainly, we know we can’t wait forever and we’re not going to, either,” he said. “Everyone wants it done tomorrow but I want to make sure he’s the right fit for everyone involved not just in the short term but the long term as well and what’s best for South Carolina football.” 

What he’s looking for

There’s a lot that goes into hiring a coordinator with fit, scheme, recruiting chops and a lot more involvement outside of just game-day playcalling. 

Beamer mentioned what he was looking for this go-round as well. 

“You’re looking at what kind of person they are, first of all. We want to make sure they fit with what we’re doing in that building and how they would fit potentially with the coaches you already have on staff. Then schematically, what they believe in and what it could potentially look like. Does that person help get the best out of the current personnel you have on offense? Then background: where they’ve been, where they’ve recruited, coaches they’ve been around, systems they’ve been a part of,” Beamer said. 

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“Have they called plays before, have they not called plays before if they’ve been a coordinator? Have they been in the SEC? There are a lot of things you look at. There are a lot of great coaches who’ve reached out and some people would say, ‘Oh my god, you could go hire that guy. That’s a slam dunk.’ Well, maybe not. maybe it’s not the right fit of what we’re looking for or the right fit for our building and our people. You’re looking for that.” 

Current staff, bowl game play-caller

Right now South Carolina is down one assistant coach, which means someone has to fill his void on the recruiting trail. 

Interim offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley is on the road in Satterfield’s place while Greg Adkins–who wasn’t coaching on the field after health issues prevented him from it this season–is back on the road as well. 

If Beamer made a hire during the recruiting contact period and he went on the road to recruit, either Teasley or Adkins would have to come off of it. 

South Carolina will figure out a plan for who coaches quarterbacks as bowl prep gets closer. Beamer also said he’s had conversations about who will call plays but will keep that in-house. 

“I probably won’t tell you guys, either. Not to be a jerk but if I say so and so is the play-caller, Notre Dame will go back and look at that guy’s background and if that guy has called plays other places or other places he’s been. If you say the running backs coach is going to be the play caller, does that mean they’ll call 95 percent running plays in the bowl game?” Beamer said. 

“Or if you say the receivers coach is going to be the play caller does that mean you’re going to throw it 95 percent of the time? I’ve talked to those guys about where we are and it’s a group effort putting the plan together. Once we get to game day we’ll see where we are.” 

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Beamer also didn’t rule out him potentially calling plays if he felt that it was best for the program. 

Spencer Rattler and fit

Beamer isn’t giving South Carolina’s quarterback a play-by-play of each coordinator phone call but did mention talking to Rattler about the search. With every coaching hire, he wants to make sure the position players in the room fit with the coach and vice versa. That’s true also with a coordinator and quarterbacks coach who will work incredibly close. 

“When I say I want to make the best hire for the short term and long term I want to do the best thing for South Carolina football,” he said. “Ideally, Spencer has a decision to make but not only spencer but all of our quarterbacks, I want to hire someone I think would be a great fit for every quarterback in that room as well.” 

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