Beamer shares best memories ahead of his return to Oklahoma this weekend

When South Carolina arrives in Norman, Oklahoma on Friday, the team will go to Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, like they would on their other road trips. They’ll then head to their hotel for the night.

Ironically, the team will be at the same hotel Shane Beamer once stayed at as an assistant coach at Oklahoma

In January 2018, Lincoln Riley hired Beamer to be an assistant head coach and tight ends coach for the Sooners. Having just spent the last two years at Georgia, Beamer obviously didn’t have a home in Norman yet. So, he stayed at a nearby Embassy Suites.

“I stayed in there for a week,” Beamer said. “Embassy Suites, their rate was a little bit higher than the I think the Courtyard Marriott is where I moved into after that for a month or so.”

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After eventually finding a place to live with his wife, Emily, and three children, Beamer spent the next three seasons with the Sooners in the same role. Then in December 2020, Beamer was hired as the 36th head coach at South Carolina, where he still coaches to this day.

But this weekend, he’ll be returning to the place of his last coaching stop before his life changed forever. And the Gamecocks, who face Oklahoma on Saturday, will be staying at the same Embassy Suites he once stayed in while trying to start his new life in Norman all those years ago.

“I would be lying if I said there weren’t going to be emotions,” Beamer said. “The first time my family and I ever went to Norman when I had taken the job is the hotel we are staying in. I am so appreciative of my time there. I am thankful to Lincoln Riley giving me an opportunity. Thankful for the great players that I was around. Made so many friends that we still keep in touch with for sure.”

Throughout his coaching career, Beamer has been able to work at a lot of different places. He obviously spent a lot of time working for his dad, Frank, while at Virginia Tech. He also got to be around a handful of SEC schools, including South Carolina as an assistant under Steve Spurrier. But there was something special about Oklahoma and the history that came with being there.

“I think the biggest thing for me was, one, it was a really cool three years being around a program with such storied tradition,” Beamer said. “Right outside their stadium, across the field from the press box that you guys will be in is where they have, I guess they are up to seven or eight Heisman Trophy statues. That is eye opening. You just see all the conference championships that they have won. Just a level of respect for the tradition. That was really cool.”

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With all the tradition came the legends that made Oklahoma what it is today. Beamer remembered being around the two winningest coaches in Sooner history — Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops.

“Barry Switzer lives three blocks from the stadium, and you would see him around. Just being able to see him around the football program,” he said. “Coach Bob Stoops was great to me during my time there. When I took this job, some of the advice that he gave me when I was coaching there about becoming a head coach for the first time. That made me better.”

Then, of course, Beamer spent majority of his time with Riley, who was the head coach at Oklahoma from 2017-21. He led the Sooners to three straight 12-win seasons and four trips to New Year’s Six bowl games before taking the job at Southern Cal in November 2021.

“Just being able to see how he did things as a first-time head coach was really beneficial for me. Then, just being able to be exposed to a different style of offense and a different part of the country and different conference. There was a lot of new,” Beamer said. “A big reason I took that job was to get out of my comfort zone, if you will. Not that I was comfortable but being exposed to a lot of new. The old expression is true. You have to get out of your comfort zone in order to grow. Making that move personally and professionally got me out of my comfort zone and really help me grow as a head coach.”

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Memories and good times aside, the point of the trip to Norman is not to reminisce. Beamer and South Carolina have a football game to win. That remains the objective. But he’s looking forward to being back to a place he loved being at.

“Once the game starts, it is about that,” Beamer said of the Gamecocks’ matchup with the Sooners. “I think the biggest thing for me is the appreciation and gratitude I have for my time out there and the people that I was around.”

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