Ad Disclosure
Whether its players, coaches or fans, nobody will be more excited when South Carolina takes the field on Saturday than Shane Beamer, who will be making his debut as a head coach after 2 decades as an assistant at multiple college programs.
The Gamecocks open the 2021 season on Saturday night against Eastern Illinois, and Beamer admitted Wednesday that it’s going to be a special night, in part because his parents will be in attendance.
Beamer’s father, of course, is Frank Beamer, who won 280 games as a college head coach and turned Virginia Tech into one of the top programs in the country during his tenure in Blacksburg.
“That’ll be really special having my parents here,” Beamer said on the SEC coaches teleconference Wednesday. “Pretty cool, my dad being a Hall of Fame coach. I’m far from a Hall of Fame coach, but I’m an SEC coach and it’ll be cool to have him in attendance.
As for what he’s learned in his years as an assistant that have prepared him for this opportunity and this day, Beamer cited all of the great coaches, his father included, that he has had the opportunity to work with.
“… I’ve been very fortunate to be around a lot of different head coaches. … I’ve been a part of some really good staffs, really good programs, with really good coaches, “Beamer said. “… I’ve always tried to prepare to become a head coach. … At the end of the day, the biggest thing I’ve learned from coaches is that you’ve got to be yourself. George O’Leary was different than Phillip Fulmer, but both ways worked. Lincoln Riley is different than Kirby Smart.”
Of course, the big story in recent weeks in Columbia has been the emergence of Zeb Noland as the Gamecocks’ unlikely starting quarterback.
Noland, who played previously at Iowa State and North Dakota State, came to South Carolina as a graduate assistant but found himself needed on the field after Luke Doty’s foot injury.
And Beamer said Wednesday that he’s confident the 6-2, 232-pound Noland can help his team win games this fall.
“I knew of Zeb in high school. … We started keeping in touch when I was at Oklahoma. … The first day he took the practice field, it was pretty impressive,” Beamer said. “… Zeb stepped right in that huddle and took command of that huddle. … He went out there with like 4 plays and I want to say he went 4-for-4 and converted every third down. … I walked off the practice field saying ‘This guy has a chance to help us.'”
"Chris Wallace covers college football for Saturday Down South. He has covered college athletics for multiple newspapers and also worked previously for Rivals.com and GolfChannel.com."
