How Beamer is winning over USC fans, his team and the summer speaking circuit
Shane Beamer wandered the clubhouse at Woodcreek Club donning a familiar smile.
Offering a handshake and an ear-to-ear grin toward nearly every person he approached following the first annual “Birdies with Beamer” media golf outing, South Carolina’s first-year head coach flashed the affable personality that has endeared him to the Gamecock faithful in his earliest days on the job.
“It’s huge,” special teams coordinator Pete Lembo said of Beamer’s positivity and ability to connect. “Whatever area you are in, good management is good management.”
While his tenure has only lasted eight months and no actual football games have been played, Beamer has presented a refreshing selflessness as the lead man in Columbia for a program that’s been marred by mediocrity the past two seasons.
The former Oklahoma and Georgia assistant endeared himself to fans in recent days when he replaced the banner on the side of Williams-Brice Stadium with a new one that read “Welcome Home” with the white silhouette of a palmetto tree emblazoned below it.
The new banner follows that of an anonymous South Carolina player wearing a black uniform — which was hung after a picture of former head coach Steve Spurrier flew on the stadium during his tenure in Columbia.
For Beamer and his staff, “Welcome Home” has become a credo for the program’s foundation as much as a saying now affixed to the stadium. The quote accompanies every tweet Beamer sends when a recruit commits to the Gamecocks. It’s also a part of the family atmosphere Beamer and his assistants are hoping to foster around the football facility these days.
“You can feel it when he’s talking,” offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said of the excitement Beamer brings. “He’s just got this poise and positive energy about him.”
During Thursday’s event, Beamer chose to drive around the course and mingled, rather than play golf with a single group and shelter himself off from the rest of the contingent.
Twice he made it around the golf course over the four hours of play, maneuvering the meandering fairways and slick greens around Woodcreek. With each stop, he traded barbs with the assistant coaches, staffers and media members in each foursome.
“We’ve got some serious swings in this group!” he exclaimed toward a group that included defensive coordinator Clayton White and assistant director of player personnel Drew Hixson.
That Beamer and his staff even took part in an outing like Thursday is a swift change from the previous regime. The media golf outing was a staple under Spurrier — a rabid and notoriously competitive golfer in his own right. It was then shuttered during the Will Muschamp era.
This year, though, Beamer stood at the podium in the Woodcreek clubhouse and swung his arms around in elaborate motions as he fielded questions from reporters following the tournament and expressed his enthusiasm for bringing the golf event back.
“I had a ton of fun in this event when I was an assistant coach here with Coach Spurrier,” Beamer said. “And it was really important to me to re-create this and do it again and hopefully bigger and better than ever.”
Thursday marked the latest moment in a summer in which Beamer has adored himself to fans, staffers and players, alike. He’s spent two weeks traveling around South Carolina, up to Charlotte and down to Atlanta for booster club events. He was even headed for the final stop on the “Welcome Home Tour” Thursday night in Charleston after golf ended.
Beamer’s charisma further carried over to his first appearance at SEC Media Days last week in Hoover, Alabama. Speaking with the same excitement and dynamism that those in Columbia have grown accustomed to of late, he filibustered through his vision for the program before rows upon rows of writers and television reporters.
“If you come here and make a good impression, an average impression, it’s OK,” SEC network analyst Paul Finebaum told The State last week. “You make a bad impression, people remember it, and if you make a great impression, people remember. Shane Beamer made a spectacular impression. People loved him.”
During Thursday’s press conference not much more than 100 yards from the first tee at Woodcreek, Beamer was asked whether he’s as positive and calm internally as the external portrait fans, reporters and other varying onlookers have seen during the offseason. His answer was simple.
“Yes,” Beamer said, laughing at his own expense through a deadpanned response.
No wins and losses occur over offseason speaking engagements. That much is certain. Beamer, though, has done his share of winning on the summer speaking circuit.
He’s keenly aware he remains in the honeymoon phase of Year 1 on the job (and he’s said as much already this year). But for a coach who’s built a career out of relationship building and the tight bonds he’s formed around college football, Thursday was a reminder Beamer remains unapologetically himself.
“I’ve had so many people telling me that the energy and excitement level about South Carolina football has never been higher,” he said. “And I agree.”
Gamecocks practice: Key dates and facts
- Thursday, Aug. 5: Players report; media day
- Friday, Aug. 6: First practice
- Tuesday, Aug. 24: First weekly Shane Beamer press conference, 1 p.m.
- Thursday, Aug. 26: First call-in radio show from 7-8 p.m., “Carolina Calls” with Shane Beamer and Todd Ellis, from Backstreets Grill on Devine.
- Tuesday, Aug. 31: Game week Shane Beamer press conference, 1 p.m.
- Thursday, Sept. 2: Game week call-in show, 7-8 p.m.
- Saturday, Sept. 4: USC vs Eastern Illinois, 7 p.m. (ESPN+ and SEC Network Plus)
No fan events this August: All practices and scrimmages this fall will be closed to the public. There will also be no fan appreciation day for the second straight year. “I have enjoyed meeting our great fans during the Welcome Home Tour,” coach Shane Beamer said in a statement. “While I would like our fans to get to meet our team, the concerns with the virus does not allow us to do that. I am hopeful that we can make these events happen before next season.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How Beamer is winning over USC fans, his team and the summer speaking circuit."
