With portal set to open, Beamer talks through challenges of managing busy December schedule

With South Carolina back in a bowl game this season, head coach Shane Beamer’s month of December will be just a little bit more busy.

“It’s challenging. In so many ways, December is the worst month of the year,” Beamer told GamecockCentral on Thursday. “It’s definitely the most chaotic and there’s just so much going on.”

Over the last few days, it’s been chaotic to say the least for his football team. After the disappointment of learning the Gamecocks wouldn’t be in the College Football Playoff on Tuesday, the following day was National Signing Day, which went well. There have been a few players to announce their decision to enter the transfer portal. And on Saturday, one day before the team learned where it will be going for their bowl game, offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains became the next head coach at Appalachian State.

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It won’t get any less busy for Beamer and his team after finding out which bowl game they play in. The portal will officially open on Monday, giving all players the option to transfer if they desire to do so. And for the fourth-year coach, he doesn’t have any time to waste.

“It used to be if you go in the transfer portal, it’s let figure out in two to three days everything about you then let’s figure out if we want to get you in on a visit. You ain’t got time to do that now,” Beamer said. “Now it’s you go in the portal, let’s get a visit set up and then let’s start digging in and figuring out if you’re the kind of guy we want to bring on a visit. By the time they get on the visit, you have a chance to get to know them and things like that, as well.”

While the portal will be open until Dec. 28, those 20 days will fly by. Beamer knows he and his staff can’t be lallygagging around to find their next batch of talent. There will be many holes to fill on the roster with not much time on hand.

It can be a tedious time for Beamer. But the key is finding out “every possible thing that you can on a person in a short period of time.”

“It’s just talking to as many people as you possibly can. Watching the tape. Why are they transferring? Talking to coaches at their previous school if you have a relationship with them. And when you talk about all the people in our building, they know somebody at where they’re coming from,” he said.

“… I’ve talked to some high school coaches today about guys that they coached in high school that may be portal guys. So I don’t know if it’s necessarily a checklist but it’s talking to as many people as you can and then once you get them on a visit, it’s like a job interview. Getting them around as many people in your program as you can and figuring out if they’re a fit.”

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At the same time, Beamer is still dealing with everything else going on. South Carolina will begin bowl practice in the coming days. And there will still be movement around the program while this is going on.

But if there’s any silver lining for him, he won’t have to be all over the country during this month. Under new NCAA rules, there’s now a December quiet period. This is intended to allow teams to focus on the postseason and allow on-campus recruiting activities.

This means Beamer can stay in Columbia and better manage everything going on with his program.

“It’s just a lot without a doubt. I think it’s, I don’t want to say easier, but it’s better this year in that one, signing day was early. And two, you can’t go out on the road recruiting,” Beamer said. “There’s so much going on right now. I want to be in my office across the street doing it. … It’s more conducive to just being not as chaotic.”

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