Beamer Ball is coming to South Carolina.
Shane Beamer, Oklahoma‘s assistant head coach for offense, has agreed to a deal to become the Gamecocks’ next head football coach.
“I have been preparing for this moment my entire life,” Beamer said in a statement released by South Carolina. “I am ready and excited to be the head football coach at the University of South Carolina. I am thankful to all the head coaches that I have worked for, the assistant coaches and student-athletes I have worked with. My family and I are thrilled to be coming back to Columbia and the state of South Carolina.”
A news conference to introduce Beamer is scheduled for Monday.
“I believe that Shane Beamer is the perfect fit to be the head football coach at the University of South Carolina,” athletic director Ray Tanner said in a statement. “He has worked under some of the greatest coaches in college football and has taken those lessons to become one of the bright, young minds in the game. I believe Shane’s energy, enthusiasm, commitment and fondness for our school and program will be met favorably by our student-athletes, staff and fans.”
Beamer, who has worked at Oklahoma the past three seasons, was not available to coach during the Sooners’ 27-14 victory over Baylor on Saturday night in Norman. Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley said he hadn’t spoken to Beamer on Saturday but added, “If [the report] is true, certainly thrilled for him. Those are the opportunities that you don’t always get.”
Among the coaches Beamer plans to have on his staff is Connor Shaw, the Gamecocks’ all-time winningest quarterback. Shaw is currently South Carolina’s quarterbacks coach and was previously the director of player development.
Earlier Saturday, Louisville’s Scott Satterfield and Louisiana’s Billy Napier, who were also considered top candidates at South Carolina, announced they would remain at their current schools. Coastal Carolina’s Jamey Chadwell and Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson also interviewed for the job.
Beamer, the son of Hall of Fame coach Frank Beamer, emerged as a favorite shortly after South Carolina fired coach Will Muschamp on Nov. 15. He received strong support from some of South Carolina’s most prominent football alumni and met with Gamecocks officials two weeks ago. Beamer was an assistant on South Carolina’s staff under Steve Spurrier from 2007 to 2010.
In 2009 and 2010, Beamer was South Carolina’s recruiting coordinator when the Gamecocks assembled some of their best recruiting classes in school history, serving as a foundation for three consecutive 11-win seasons and three consecutive top-10 finishes in the final polls.
Running back Marcus Lattimore, the school’s all-time leader with 38 rushing touchdowns, was a member of that 2010 recruiting class along with Shaw.
“Coach Beamer is someone that leaves an impression on you with his love and enthusiasm for the game,” Lattimore told ESPN. “He makes you want to play for him. He’s smart and personable. He loves his family. That should tell you all you need to know about how I feel about him and this job.”
The Gamecocks’ 2009 signing class included cornerback Stephon Gilmore, receiver Alshon Jeffery and safety D.J. Swearinger, all of whom are still playing in the NFL.
Patrick DiMarco, a Pro Bowl fullback with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015, played at South Carolina when Beamer was on the staff and highly endorsed the hire.
“I have full confidence that Shane will put together a heck of a staff that will light up the scoreboard and make Carolina exciting again,” DiMarco told ESPN. “Shane has ties to the state and the university and owned the state during his time at USC as the recruiting coordinator, helping bring in South Carolina recruits like Marcus Lattimore, Alshon Jeffery, Jadeveon Clowney, Stephon Gilmore and many more.”
Los Angeles Chargers Pro Bowl defensive end Melvin Ingram, a consensus All-American at South Carolina as a senior, recently tweeted that Beamer would “bring the culture back.”
Beamer, 43, has never been a primary playcaller on offense or defense during his career, but he has experience on both sides of the ball and has also coordinated special teams. He has spent the past three years as Riley’s right-hand man on offense and also coached the Sooners’ tight ends and H-backs.
Riley said last month that Beamer would be a “really good head coach” and added that Beamer had “great experience, being able to work with several different guys and several different programs, different parts of the country.”
South Carolina talked to Riley about the Gamecocks’ head job heading into the 2016 season before hiring Muschamp. Riley, 32 at the time, was in his first season as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.
Beamer, having played for his father at Virginia Tech, wanted to make his own name in the coaching world before returning to coach under his dad from 2011 to 2015 as associate head coach and running backs coach. Before returning to his alma mater, Beamer coached under Phillip Fulmer at Tennessee, Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State and Spurrier at South Carolina.
And after leaving Virginia Tech when his father retired following the 2015 season, Beamer worked under Kirby Smart at Georgia for two seasons, making it Beamer’s fourth different SEC stop.
Muschamp was fired with three games remaining in his fifth season on the job. He was 28-30 overall at South Carolina and recorded more wins in his first three seasons (22) than any coach in school history, but the Gamecocks were just 6-14 in Muschamp’s last 20 games.
Only seven times in the history of the school has South Carolina won more than eight games in a season, and Spurrier was responsible for four of those seven seasons.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report.
