Shane Beamer visits California QB recruit who’s committed to FSU. Here’s how it went

South Carolina coach Shane Beamer played a little golf with former Gamecock star Wesley Bryan last week in Palm Springs, California. Birdies weren’t the only thing on his mind. Recruiting was as well.

While in California, Beamer made the three-hour ride to Newbury Park for a meeting with quarterback Brady Smigiel, a Florida State commitment that South Carolina offered in early January.

Smigiel (6-4, 220) is a Class of 2026 recruit and had known USC director of player personnel Darren Uscher from when he worked at UCLA. His dad, Joe Smigiel, is the head coach at Newbury Park High and a former offensive lineman at Arizona under legendary coach Dick Tomey.

After Florida State coach Mike Norvell fired offensive coordinator Alex Atkins and replaced him with Gus Malzahn, the Smigiel family decided to check some other options and made the contact with Uscher.

“Brady’s committed to Florida State, but they made a couple of changes and he just wants to make sure that he’s in the right place, and he wanted to make sure that he did that by checking out some other places,” Coach Smigiel said. “We were interested based on the fact Mike Shula was hired. He’s a pro-type guy and there’s some good pro aspects to their offense. That’s kind of where it started. The three of them watched film and they signed off on it.”

After making the offer to Smigiel, Beamer followed up last week with his in-person visit at the school.

“Obviously showed great interest in what he has with Brady and it’s just evolving as it goes,” Coach Smigiel said. “We’re going to take a trip out there this spring and watch what they do and let Brady be able to sit in the quarterback room and see what they do. He’s going to go back to Florida State and see what’s going on with them and probably take some other trips as well. That’s kind of where we’re at right now.”

Along with USC and Florida State, the Smigiels plans to take spring visits to Washington, UCLA, Michigan and Michigan State.

“He doesn’t mind traveling as far as where he’s going to go play. The fit is more important than the location,” Coach Smigiel said. “At the same time, he doesn’t love continuing going on a bunch of trips around the country. If he’s taking a trip, he’s serious about it. Those are the ones that have potential to where he’s going, but he hasn’t signed them up yet.”

Coach Smigiel is hopeful these visits will give his son all in the insight he needs to make his most informed decision.

“I think it’s good for everybody involved to make sure the fit is correct,” Coach Smigiel said. “That’s what he’s looking for, find the best fit for him as far as the beliefs of the coach and the beliefs of what they are doing on offense. I’m a head coach and we do a lot with accountability and culture and buying in.

“In today’s college football world, it’s hard to keep that good culture. Those are hard questions we brought up to Coach Beamer, and Coach Beamer answered them in a way that reminded me of a guy who coached me. I coach the same way that he coached me, and that was Dick Tomey at the University of Arizona. He’s obviously a very impressive coach and our meeting went really good.”

For now, the commitment to Florida State, made on June 22, remains in place.

“He has not decommitted from Florida State,” Coach Smigiel said. “The one thing I’ll tell you about my son is he originally wanted to go to a place and not have to open up his recruitment, hoping that things were consistent. As things change, I think as a player and as a staff, both sides need to figure out a fit that potentially could be beneficial for both sides.”

Smigiel has had a meteoric rise in the land of quarterbacks. He was named Mr. Football in California this season after passing for 3,521 yards and 49 touchdowns as a junior. That pushed his career totals to 11,222 yards and 147 yards.

“I’m really proud of him because of the improvements that he made by dedicating himself to taking care of the football, and dedicating himself to being in the film room,” Coach Smigiel said. “We had a really good group. We won Division Two of the Southern Section, one of the top 20 divisions in the country. He had a nice supporting cast and a lot of guys that bought in. Obviously, he was the leader of the team and took what people gave us.”

Smigiel is one of two quarterbacks Beamer and Shula have zeroed in on for the 2026 class. They have also offered Jared Curtis of Nashville, and he has set an official visit with the Gamecocks for June.