What Mike Shula said after being introduced as South Carolina's new offensive coordinator

South Carolina has officially introduced Mike Shula as the new offensive coordinator. Head coach Shane Beamer and Shula each spoke to the media on Wednesday. Here’s what they had to say.

Shane Beamer

— Sends his congratulations to Lamont Paris and the men’s basketball on a great win over Clemson. It was great to be there at Colonial Life Arena last night.

— It’s been a really busy time with December being chaotic in a lot of different aspects. But it’s a good busy. There’s no question about it. A lot of excitement about Gamecock football right now.

— That was huge to be able to get all the assistant contract extensions solidified before the bowl game. Went to Ray Tanner and talked about what his assistants deserve. It was a lot of work on Tanner’s end and same with Beamer. Grateful for the Board of Trustees and the university for believing in this coaching staff.

— They’ve had a coach turn down a coordinator job at another P4 school and another who turned down a head coaching job. It says a lot about the men in this program that they want to be here.

— Gave the players some time off last week with it being exam week. Then they got back in for practice after graduation on Monday. They’ll practice this entire weekend and eventually get into a mock game week. It’s going to be a great trip to Orlando. The guys are really, really hungry.

— Still working through who will call plays in the bowl game. Dowell Loggains is busy getting going at App State. Mike Shula has been very involved with everything.

— Doesn’t believe Kyle Kennard will play in the bowl game. Kennard recently declared for the NFL Draft. There’s one other player who’s still weighing his options. Other than that, he made it sound like everyone else is all in on the Citrus Bowl.

[GamecockCentral: Subscribe for $1 for 7 days]

— A lot of the incoming freshmen are here right now. They’ll be coming here in January already. They’ve been able to have some of those guys practice with the team. Mentions Caleb Williams, Cutter Woods and the receivers as those guys.

— Knew they weren’t far off after going 5-7 last year. They had the leadership and maturity of a lot of players who decided to return. The teams that can get old and be old have a chance to be really successful. He was hoping all of his veteran players would return. But he didn’t know for sure initially. Knew they had a chance to be pretty good with a lot of pieces returning and coming in. There’s a leadership void they will have to certainly fill for 2025.

— When they were able to bring in Shula last year, he was fully on board with the idea of having him on staff. He thought he would be a dynamic fit because of the background he’s had. He’s called plays in college, he’s called plays in the Super Bowl. It was a home run they were able to get him here. He’s been even better than he thought he would be. Everyone in this building loves Mike Shula. There was no one else he really considered for the OC role. Shula was the way he was going to go.

— The continuity was critical for Beamer with Shula knowing the offense and working with Sellers. He wasn’t all about bringing in a new coordinator and learning a new offense right now. Didn’t think that was the best thing for them.

— Robby Ashford is practicing with the team right now and staying for the bowl game, despite entering the transfer portal. It’s a little bit of a change in Beamer’s philosophy. Ashford loves it here. He wants to be the starting quarterback, which Beamer gets. Ashford talked to him the week after the Clemson game. He loves it here but understands LaNorris Sellers is the guy for the future. They agreed to meet later on and Ashford wanted to enter the portal. Beamer met with the leaders on the team about Ashford wanting to finish this thing the right way. The leaders were all in agreement with letting Ashford finish out at South Carolina.

— December is less chaotic because of high school signing day already happening. That makes it less chaotic. Also, with the signing period moving up, the coaches aren’t allowed to go on the road recruiting. Now, they’re in house. It’s still chaotic but at least it’s chaotic from his desk. That part has been different in a good way.

— With Shula being a coaches son like him is very endearing. He grew up around the game and played the game in the SEC. He asks Shula about some of the things with playing in the SEC and what that was like. Always had a ton of respect for him.

— Just following his career, that respect has always grown. Reached out to some guys who played under him when he was the OC during the Carolina Panthers’ Super Bowl run. They couldn’t have been more awesome in their praise of Shula.

Mike Shula

— Grateful for this opportunity. It’s been very engerizing to be at South Carolina this year. It’s because of the people. It’s good to feel wanted. Feels extremely motivated now to help the offense and team finish the way they want to finish in the Citrus Bowl. They want to continue to build on what they have on offense.

— There’s something different about this group of players at South Carolina. He had a chance to observe some of the other positions. These guys are motivated to win and prove to everyone what they are about.

— Sellers is an interesting guy in such a good way. He’s extremely competitive, smart, a fast learner. He has a way about himself that attracts guys where he’s a leader without saying a whole lot. Hopefully the relationship they’ve built will help the team going forward.

— Sellers is very poised. It’s hard to see that to start with because everything was so new. He’s pretty cool. He’s doing so many good things right now. But he still has a lot to learn and will grow. If he continues the way he’s ascended this year, it could be a really cool thing.

— Every experience, you want to make sure you learn from it with the good and the bad. Over the last few years, he hadn’t watched a whole lot of college football with being in the NFL and raising three daughters. But he knows athletes are getting bigger, stronger and faster.

— Every one of the players on this team in his opinion knows what’s expected. They all know Beamer is in his corner. As a player and parent, that’s the guy you want to have coach your players.

— Some of the runs Sellers has had, he probably could’ve gotten the ball out on time. But with experience, that’s only going to make him more dangerous. If he stays on that right path, it will hopefully equate to a lot of wins. He doesn’t look back on what he’s done and say he’s arrived or anything like that. They want to build on what Dowell Loggains has done. So grateful for him reaching out and being wanted by South Carolina.

— Everything he wanted to do when he got here was to be an extension of Loggains. He’s a terrific recruiter and communicator. There’s a lot of young men who were interested in South Carolina and hopefully they will continue to be interested with what they’ve built here. Now it’s time for him to step up in recruiting.

— He’s going to prepare for the bowl game like he is going to call the plays. He will be ready either way. He’s thrilled to coach with the guys on this staff. It’s not that big of a deal in his opinion because they’re all locked in.

[GamecockCentral has gift subscriptions]

— You try to apply what you’ve learned with working with quarterbacks like Sellers in the past, specifically with a guy like Cam Newton. Both of those guys are passers first and that’s what they want with their quarterbacks. Get the ball to the receiver on time and get the ball there accurately. It’s going to be more philosophy and X’s and O’s with applying different aspects of other quarterbacks’ games to what Sellers can do rather than just watching tape and saying this is what he should do. They’ll continue to try to build on what Sellers can do.

— Anybody who plays on offense feels like it’s their job to go score. However they win games, it’s done in a lot of different ways. They’re just going to dial in on their own selves and not worry about the depth chart on defense and special teams. They have to make sure they do their job first on offense.

— They’re going to have big shoes to fill with Loggains leaving. They’ll put their own flavor on the offense but will continue to build upon what’s already working. The challenge comes with the turnover of guys who come in. Getting that communicated as fast as they can where the guys feel comfortable will be the biggest challenge.

— When he came here as an opposing coach at Alabama, he remembers hearing to not underestimate this crowd. Williams-Brice Stadium was loud. Alabama had some good players that year (the question was about 2005). That was the only time he had been to Columbia for a game before coming here as a coach on staff. Columbia is a cool place. It’s a cool city.

— This profession is hard but it’s the one that he’s chosen. You learn from the ups and the downs. Working closely with the quarterbacks this year, it was awesome. It’s a unique feeling. If he ever did anything else, he probably wouldn’t have that feeling.

— Asked about Bill Belichick moving on to the college level at UNC with his father Don Shula’s winningest coach in the NFL mark still being intact. Doesn’t really think about that stuff. Has a ton of respect for Belichick. Records are awesome. His family is so proud of his dad.

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!