How Shane Beamer is progressing on hiring his first South Carolina staff
Shane Beamer fell back on experience. He’s trying to do everything at once: handle things at Oklahoma, recruit for his new job at South Carolina and build his first Gamecocks coaching staff.
But while speaking to veteran head coaches in the sport, he’s taken a key piece of advice: He’ll take his time.
“Everybody wants it done like tomorrow,” Beamer said Monday in a radio interview with 107.5 The Game. “But you’ve got to make sure that it’s the right fit, that all 10 pieces have to fit together. And that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Beamer is in the midst of talking to and building that first coaching group, one he’s been putting together in his mind for a long time. Beamer said he’s much closer to having people in place than he was last week, but he’s not going to rush any announcements.
Two 2020 assistants, Travaris Robinson and Kyle Krantz, are already out, according to their Twitter accounts.
The first-time head coach noted the unusual season has made the process a little different than most. He’s speaking to coaches, getting things lined up, but he can’t actually announce any just yet because they’ve not finished off their current seasons.
Beamer did say that everyone he had targeted as a top option before getting hired still remains very much in play.
“The amount of interest has been beyond what even I could have expected,” Beamer said. “I’ve heard from so many people before I was announced as the head coach. But since I’ve been announced as head coach, I’ve heard from so many more people interested, and you say to yourself, ‘Wow, he’ be interested in leaving that position to come here?’ I’m talking sitting coordinators in a Power 5 conference that reached out to me. It’s been exciting. A lot of people want to be in Columbia.”
He said he’s balancing picking front-end recruiters with guys who can develop talent, both key aspects for any staff.
Beamer also said he’s been in close contact with athletic director Ray Tanner through the process.
He will remain in Oklahoma through the weekend, then return to Columbia. His new team is expected to play in a bowl game, either on Dec 26 or in the days just before or just after New Year’s Day.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 1:19 PM.
