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Coaching turnover not big effect on USC commitments

Written by JOSEPH PERSON

jperson@thestate.com
Posted on 01.25.09
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Shane Beamer became USC’s recruiting coordinator after David Reaves left for Tennessee following the Clemson game. Beamer, 31, who had the same post at Mississippi State, talked to The State about the Gamecocks’ recruiting efforts and a few of his more memorable stories from the road.

QUESTION: Did you make any changes when you took over?

ANSWER: Not really. We had a foundation in place and had a lot of guys committed. The biggest thing was just hanging on to those guys and solidifying things with them, and continuing to recruit the guys that weren’t committed that we needed to get. ... It’s been tough with some coaches coming and going, but the guys have done a great job — guys picking up for somebody else when a position might be open.

The guys that have come in have hit the ground running. Jay Graham got off the plane Wednesday and was out recruiting by Wednesday afternoon. Lorenzo Ward the same thing — hit town, went right recruiting. G.A. Mangus hit town, went right recruiting. Eric Wolford’s been awesome.

Q: How do you respond to questions about the turnover and assure kids that it’s stable here?

A: We’ve told them is these guys that left the program, they either left for better opportunities — a promotion or a lot more money. Some of them — cold as it is — didn’t have a choice and they had to leave. We stress that to them. It’s not like guys are jumping ship.

Q: Some of the new coaches came in from other parts of the country — Graham and Wolford from the Midwest. Do you start recruiting those areas as a result?

A: We’ll still have our major areas we always concentrate on. We’d be dumb not to use some of Eric Wolford’s contacts in the state of Ohio. We’d be dumb not to use some of Jay Graham’s contacts in that part of the country. ... Any time a coach has a connection to someone that’s outside their primary area, we’ll always pursue it.

Q: Do you identify how many numbers you want to recruit at each position?

A: That’s something I’ve been familiar with and the way that I’ve always done it. Before I took over, that probably wasn’t as clear-cut as it needed to be, in my opinion. I think a lot of times we as coaches went out on the road blind a little bit as far as how many guys we were targeting at each position. I think it’s good to have an idea of that before, particularly this time of year going into next year.

Q: With Chris Smelley leaving, will you take a quarterback in this class?

A: If it was the right one. We’re not against signing a quarterback. We’ve reached out to some quarterbacks, coach Spurrier’s visited some quarterbacks. If we find a guy that can come in and fit with what we’re doing and give us a chance to win and compete, then we’ll sign one. We’ve already started the process and targeted the top junior quarterbacks in the country. We’re going to be aggressive on that right now.

Q: As a kid, did you ever go on any recruiting trips with your dad (Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer)?

A: I remember one. We went to see Anthony Poindexter play basketball. Anthony’s actually coaching defensive backs at Virginia (where he played safety) now. He’s about my age. I was a junior in high school and he was a senior in Lynchburg, Va.

Q: Didn’t you miss your dad by like 15 minutes last year at a school?

A: If that. Beaufort High School. We were recruiting Devin Taylor. We went head-to-head on Devin, and we won that battle. I still remind him of that. Didn’t really bump into them much in South Carolina this year, but see them in Georgia quite a bit.

Q: What’s the farthest you’ve ever gone to see a recruit?

A: Mississippi State. I was fresh out of being a G.A. and it was my first full-time job. Coach (Sylvester) Croom hired me and I was so eager to get on the road. The night before I saw a kid in Nashville. And then the next morning went from Nashville to Memphis to see a guy. Flew from Memphis to Oklahoma City to see a guy. And then flew to Oklahoma City to Las Vegas, and ended up in Las Vegas at 10 o’clock. Did a home visit with a running back out in Las Vegas.

I remember being just delirious by midnight. I can remember saying, well, I’m in Las Vegas. I need to at least see the Strip. So I went somewhere on the Strip to eat dinner at midnight. I learned then and there what this recruiting thing’s all about. Didn’t get any of ‘em, that’s the thing.

Q: What’s your strangest recruiting story?

A: Coach Croom and I took a trip one time. I was off the road recruiting so I couldn’t have any contact with the guy. We were going to see a quarterback in Lexington, Tenn. We were going to take the school plane. But it was bad weather, so we had to drive — about a three-hour drive.

He wanted me to drive him and just talk to him, spend time with him. So I get in the car, drive three hours to Lexington, Tenn. He went in the quarterback’s house, did the home visit. I had to sit in the Wal-Mart parking lot the whole time. So I drove three hours, went to Wal-Mart, sat in the parking lot for an hour waiting on him to call me, went back by the guy’s house, picked him up and drove three hours back to Starkville. He went to sleep when he got back in the car. I can remember driving through Tupelo, Miss., the home of Elvis, just hanging my head out the window trying to stay awake.

Q: What do you think of recruiting rankings?

A: It’s going to sound like a lie, but honest-to-God’s truth, I have no idea what any of the guys that I’m recruiting, how many stars they have. It’s never once been discussed in our staff meeting — how many stars is he? We trust our evaluations, trust what we see on film and don’t get caught up in who’s recruiting who or who’s not recruiting who. I’ve been some places where you brought up a guy’s name and the first thing the head coach would want to know is, ‘Well, who else is recruiting him?’ If it wasn’t any other SEC schools, there was a chance you wouldn’t be recruiting him, either. Thankfully, coach Spurrier’s not that way.

Q: The six early enrollees — do you think a couple of them could play early?

A: Absolutely. They’ve been impressive in some of our early-morning workouts. Seeing some of those, they fit right in. Sometimes those new guys and freshmen right out of high school stand out, and you can pick them out of the bunch. But not this crew. They look the part from a physical standpoint, then from a mental and social standpoint they fit right in. We’re counting on them all to figure in and help us or they wouldn’t be here.

Q: Would you be in favor of an early signing period?

A: I may be in the minority on this staff, but I’m in favor of it because recruiting’s just speeding up so far. There’s eight juniors we’ve already offered for next year. I just think it makes sense. There are five guys I’m actively recruiting right now, and three of them have been committed since summer. They haven’t taken any visits. They’ve been solid as can be with South Carolina. They’ve never wavered. They would have signed six months ago if they could have.

But they didn’t, and you’ve got to continue to go see ‘em every week because there’s other schools coming after them. That would put a stop to a lot of that.

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