COLUMBIA, S.C. — Shane Beamer thinks he got it from his dad. That seems off: Frank Beamer was the nice coach, who never seemed to get in people’s faces.
“He certainly has that chip on his shoulder and did but didn’t show it as outwardly as I have,” Shane Beamer said.
Beamer certainly does that: There was an on-field near-fight with Bret Bielema in last season’s bowl game. Beamer will get on social media to answer critics and stick up for his team. He will read the words of disrespect and confront those who wrote them, as he did with me two years ago on the field (it was over including South Carolina with three weak Georgia nonconference opponents).
Many coaches try to stay above the fray. Beamer will get in the fray and fight. It makes him perfect for South Carolina.
This is a program that does well when it has a chip on its shoulder. This is a program without the tradition and resources of many of its SEC rivals, one that has to punch above its weight. It needs an edge, and Beamer has brought that since his arrival four years ago — with good results.
“Everybody has somebody who doesn’t believe in them, and people take it personal. I think Coach Beamer takes it personal,” offensive lineman Cason Henry said. “He sees how great we can be, he knows how great we can be, he sees it every day. He doesn’t like it when people talk bad about us, because he loves the program, he loves us.”
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer reacts on the sideline during the Gamecocks’ bowl game against Illinois in December. (Jeremy Reper / USA Today via Imagn Images)
That’s a big part of why Beamer got the job — because he wanted it, having served as a Gamecocks assistant from 2007-10 under Steve Spurrier, another coach who wasn’t afraid to call out critics. Beamer, now 48, didn’t have any head coaching experience but immediately lifted the program to respectability with two winning seasons. Then, after a 5-7 season came last year, a 9-4 finish as one of the last teams left out of the College Football Playoff.
That’s good for South Carolina. The trick is sustaining that momentum. But present those two comments to Beamer, and his brow furrows. That edge comes out.
“I wouldn’t say sustain for us. It’s taking it farther, you know, than what we did last season,” Beamer said. “I know everyone on the outside was shocked by what happened last season. I don’t feel that way. …
“I don’t want it to be a flash in the pan.”
A big reason to hope it won’t be is quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
Football teams feed off their quarterback, and last year’s Gamecocks team is a prime example. Sellers, a redshirt freshman taking over for Spencer Rattler, emerged as a dynamic dual threat, passing for 2,534 yards, rushing for 674 and generally providing belief to the rest of the team.
The play that stood out the most for him came in the win at Clemson: Trailing 14-10 with just more than a minute left, facing third and 16, Sellers scrambled for a 20-yard touchdown run.
“The play’s never over when the ball is in his hands,” cornerback Jalon Kilgore said. “We’re never out of the game. If it’s close, we’ve always got a chance to win.”
Receivers coach Mike Furrey has been around a while and worked for many teams, from the Chicago Bears to Limestone. When he arrived in Columbia last year, he couldn’t tell right away that a big season was afoot. But as Sellers started making more plays, beginning with the Week 2 win at Kentucky, Furrey saw something brewing.
“It definitely motivated and encouraged our guys because that’s the quarterback spot. Everybody wants a quarterback,” Furrey said. “And to be able to look back and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got a really good quarterback who can get us out of things, we better play ball too.’ ”
That’s not to put it all on the quarterback spot: Rattler, now with the New Orleans Saints, was good but didn’t have the benefit of good protection. Sellers was sacked 41 times but was able to run his way out of many more.
The Gamecocks also got a lot better on defense, going from ninth in the SEC in yards per play in 2023 to fourth in 2024. Edge Kyle Kennard was the SEC Player of the Year. He’s gone now, but sophomore edge Dylan Stewart is back, which was a win in the age of the transfer portal.
So, when a coach wins, and he’s at South Carolina, do people come after his players? Yes, Beamer answered with a smile, but it was easier to hold on to them after last season than after going 5-7.
“Players want to win. Players want to be a part of a strong culture, which we have here,” he said. “And I think we proved that after 2023 that we had a strong culture. You know, we lost a couple of guys in the portal, but you know what? The bulk of our team stayed. The ones that we needed to keep, we kept after 2023, and the ones that we worked to keep, we kept after the 2023 season.
“(After) 2024, do guys and our team have options to go places? Sure, but they also won. They love being a part of this program, and they believe in what we’re doing.”
Henry pointed to another factor: Beamer, who isn’t the offensive or defensive coordinator, can take a more holistic approach in managing the roster.
“That’s one of his superpowers as a coach, I’d say, is personnel selection,” Henry said. “He’s a pretty good judge of character, and he knows how to bring guys in that want the best for our program, who know how to buy in, who want to be here. That’s how you create culture in a program.”
Part of that culture is that edge, which propelled the Gamecocks last year. So, how do they maintain that after a strong season when people are now writing glowing things about them? There’s a built-in disrespect because the history of the program isn’t as rich and the resources and ceiling of the program aren’t seen as high.
Then there’s just Beamer. The team might feed off its quarterback on the field, but off the field, it usually feeds off its coach. Players still bring up the story of Beamer kicking over the cooler after a loss to Florida two years ago.
“I love that about him,” Kilgore said. “That shows how angry he was, but he knows what we’ve got to do to get to the next step. Just seeing how much fight he has.”
That doesn’t mean South Carolina will keep ascending. That doesn’t mean it won’t eventually be eaten up by the SEC, that Beamer will be there forever. Spurrier had a great run but hit his ceiling and is now back in Florida golfing.
But for now, the vibes are good. In Beamer’s office, he redesigned it to have a picture of the building where his old offices were, as a reminder of where he came from, at least in Columbia. But he has momentos from the 2010 SEC Championship Game when the Gamecocks lost to Cam Newton and Auburn. It’s a reminder that this program can win, as it did under Spurrier.
“For me, I think it probably just stems ultimately from being here before,” Beamer said. “Maybe what this program is perceived on the outside by people isn’t as high as what I think it should be. I’m not talking about us right now. I’m just meaning the South Carolina football program in general. And I get you gotta win football games to earn that. But I don’t like putting a ceiling on anything. And I think people have put a ceiling on this program for a long time. And in my mind, it was, there is no ceiling on this program.
“We have everything that we need to win at the highest level, and, you know, I’m gonna make sure we have that edge and don’t let anybody, you know, disrespect the program.”
