C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
Hello all, live updates incoming from Beamer's first official press conference at South Carolina. Should have a lot to talk about. Updates will be in this post, so all you have to do is refresh.
--Bob Caslen speaking first today. Said he's incredibly excited about today. Today is "a day of great excitement and great promise." Said he's happy he's part of the Gamecock family again. He knows how important athletics is for this university and it's woven into the culture at South Carolina.
"America loves a winner," and said Shane Beamer is that coach. He has experience, knows the area, knows the SEC and has the competence and character to bring things to a "championship level."
--Said Beamer spoke about trust is important and needs to be earned and wants the opportunity to earn it. He values integrity, unselfishness and building culture of not wanting to let the team down.
--Ray Tanner is speaking now. Begins by recognizing Bob Caslen and how involved he was in the process of hiring a coach. Said he never missed a meeting (whether in-person or virtually). Chance Miller was also incredibly valuable as well. Chad Chatlos was great as well throughout the process and was incredibly informative. BOT was very supportive of the process as well.
--Said Beamer is widely respected and has great relationships with former players and a lot of people in Columbia. He got into the coaching ranks early and has been associated with a lot of great programs, all at the Power 5. Mentioned he's been to 17 bowl games in 21 years, coached in a national championship game.
--Beamer has a "tremendous desire" to be at South Carolina. It's been that way for a while, not just during the coaching search. He's been preparing for a head coaching job for a while.
--Tanner is the "least bit concerned" about his inexperience being a coordinator.
--Lettermen showed up today to congratulate him and Beamer went out to talk to him since they weren't allowed in the building. Players are engaged and excited to get to play under Beamer.
Beamer
--Starts by saying today is a "dream come true" for him being at South Carolina and in the SEC. Thanks the administration for the opportunity and for a thorough interview process. Said they connected right off the bat and had great chemistry.
--Thanked Will Muschamp for his contributions and said he has a lot of respect for him and his ability. Said it was really good to see some of the lettermen.
--"I would have been crushed if this didn't happen." But did say it was "humbling" to see how many players reached out to him or to Ray Tanner vouching for him. Rattled off a few big names who called him to vouch.
"This is your program. I'm honored to be your head football coach."
--Sylvester Croom was a big influence on his life and is so thankful he took a chance on a 26 year old. Said he wouldn't be up there today without Steve Spurrier giving him a job in Columbia.
--He's learned so much from Kirby Smart and Lincoln Riley and Riley's been really helpful throughout this process and a good role model on what it takes to be a great head coach.
--Beamer has 600 unread texts on his phone. He thanks all the players who reached out.
--Jokes his in-laws are "SEC through and through" and him being on SEC Network is probably the highlight of him being their son-in-law.
--He gets choked up talking about his family and coming to South Carolina. Said "if I wanted to be the head coach at South Carolina we needed to go to Virginia Tech...baby, we did it."
--Over the last two weeks, Beamer's son would play Sandstorm.
--Mentions he didn't want to leave a place just to check a box. Said he wanted to be picky and this was a dream job for him. He's proud to be a South Carolina native and thinks there tools are there to win at South Carolina. It has "second to none" facilities and the infrastructure is exciting to have those kind of resources.
--Is always sos blown away by South Carolina and Williams-Brice as a coach here and as an opposing coach.
--Calls South Carolina is a top 25 athletic department with a high standard of winning. He's going to "support this athletics program" as best he can.
--Recruiting is going to start in the state and it's exciting to getting back into South Carolina high school programs and recruit. Said they're always welcome at South Carolina.
--Talking about going back to Oklahoma, said he doesn't want to leave the players out to dry at South Carolina. He talked about loyalty and it wouldn't be right to not finish out the season after preaching that. Sounds like he'll do that through the Big 12 title game. The current South Carolina players were receptive to it.
Mentions all of the things he can do he'll do virtually.
--He's already started to build what he called a "premier culture in college football."
--"You have my word we'll work every day to build a program you're proud of." Said they came up short in his final year here in a SEC title game, and they want to get over that hump. Gives him immense pride to put on the South Carolina logo.
Questions:
--Asked about his offensive and defensive philosophy, said they'll adjust and tweak the offensive system to bring out the best in the personnel. They have to be tough, have to be balanced. Need to be explosive and have explosive plays. That comes with scheme and through recruiting.
--Defensively they have to be multiple and fundamentally sound. He believes in that and they won't deviate from that.
--Said he never really got frustrated or down about not getting bigger jobs before. Mentions he didn't get a lot of jobs he interviewed for. Said the timing had to be right and was excited about the steps he was taking. "Things happen when they're supposed to happen."
--Asked about staffing, they're going through that process last night. He met with every staff member last night. There are great coaches on the staff and some he's worked with before. Envisions a few staff members who would be part of the program moving forward. He's going to take his time on the staff.
--Jokes he got four calls from head coaches in the NFL recommending people. Said the timeline is a little wonky because regular seasons are going on still but he'll get it done as soon as possible.
--Being able to see how his dad handled the stressors that come with being a head coach has been huge in his career. Said that helps his leadership abilities and he hopes to continue that at South Carolina.
--Asked about quickly turning things around, said he didn't get hired after presenting an eight or five year plan. They're going to start day one trying to advance the program day by day. They can't think long term. He'll finish up a press conference and get back on the phone with current players and recruits.
--Learned a lot learning from Steve Spurrier and it was surreal to be even considered for a job under Spurrier. He learned so much from him but the confidence and swagger was something else. Said he had a great confidence.
--Said recruiting has gone well. Said South Carolina and Oklahoma overlap in recruits and he's had a bunch reach out to him. He's eager to attack recruiting. Said they're going to outwork guys and find people who want to represent the University of South Carolina.
--Asked about support staff, said he has a lot of ideas and a plan and the university has assured him from a money standpoint those can be fulfilled. Mentions he's seen big support staffs to barebones ones.
--Beamer's preparing for a "pretty chaotic" few weeks. He and Riley have talked about things and said he'll have more opportunities in the afternoon and evening to get things done. Mentions he saw from Kirby Smart how to do it at Georgia. Biggest thing is compartmentalizing things and knocking things out.
--He and Tanner have talked about him going back to Oklahoma and resuming coaching duties and they felt confident with a plan. Zoom and virtual recruiting makes it a lot easier. If it was a contact period, said that would have changed things a little.
--Doesn't want to get into conversations with the assistants, but things are open ended.
--On "that program in the upstate," said they're on a good run but when he was here last the Gamecocks were on a pretty good run themselves against them.
--Asked about a bowl game, said he wouldn't coach in it but would be around for bowl practices. Those are always good to have younger guys developed.
--Having a lot of different roles as an assistant will really help him. Being special teams coordinator he had to manage the entire roster because every position group is involved. As recruiting coordinator, said he's had to manage a roster, manage scholarship limits, evaluate talent, etc.
As an associate head coach (and as a brief interim at Virginia Tech) he's had time to run meetings, etc. Mentions too he started building a binder over a decade ago about what he would do as a head coach. It changes now that he's in the chair, but he's ready for the challenge.
--Jokes about having Frank Beamer being heavily involved in the program. Said he promised Ray Tanner without talking to his dad about it.
--Good question from Marty Smith, asked about obstacles, said he doesn't see any just good opportunities. Said the program is positioned to have success from facilities, money, recruiting and it's exciting.
"I don't see any negatives."
--Asked about who he's recruiting, said he wants guys who want to be at South Carolina and are grateful for the opportunity to be a Gamecock. Obviously each spot has certain thing he's looking for but wants guys who are competitive, passionate and are high character.
--"Go where there's players." Wants to recruit this region (Carolinas, DMV, Florida, Georgia, etc.). Mentions he's heard from a lot of coaches in Virginia. Said being at Oklahoma helped him learn how to recruit nationally and develop ties across the country. Said they want to start at South Carolina and get amazing players from the state and then branch out.
"We're in a great location."
--Mentioned these guys in state can stay in South Carolina, compete in the SEC and compete for SEC titles.
--They're working a recruiting hashtag. Planning on trying to use that quite a bit, whatever it is.
--Declines to answer if he's a Zesto's or Rush's guy.
--Welcomes the chance to play "anyone and anywhere." Said he wants to compete against good teams.
--He wants high-character staff members to work with. They won't get in the door. They want good teachers and "elite recruiters" who are driven and have a passion for South Carolina.
--As for coordinators, said that will go back to the style of play and guys who can adjust and have been proven and have done it at a high level for a long time.
--Asked about culture, said love is a big principle: loving each other and loving the university. He's a positive energy guy. He hopes people see the trust, gratitude, energy on the football field.
That started getting built yesterday and will be further instilled once guys get back on campus in 2021.
--He's very, very familiar with the roster because they tried to recruit a lot of these guys. Mentions Jordan Burch, Jaheim Bell, Boogie Huntley, MarShawn Lloyd, etc. Said he watches the games and the coaching show so he knows what's going on with the program.
He doesn't care what happened last year. This is a fresh start and they're moving forward.
--Asked about the transfer portal, mentions it's unprecedented and it's going to get more hectic. He doesn't look at having to re-recruit the roster. Said he wants to get to know each guy and explain his plan to them. Said it's going to be hard work and he's going to be demaning.
"It's not just going to be words on a wall." They're going to have the right guys that want to be part of the culture. Most of the guys have gone home for exams, winter break. Said he's going to maintaining tabs on the roster frequently.
--Talked about things he believed in as a head coach and what he's passionate about. Said they talked scheme, coaching staff, support staff, why he wanted to be at South Carolina. That was a big chunk of it.
Said the initial talks with South Carolina was over an hour and he didn't look at one page of notes during it.
--Family is incredibly important to him. They love South Carolina and will be involved on the campus. He's a people person and wants to get out and meet with the fan base. He wants to be genuine and be positive with the people he's met.
--He got emotional talking about accepting the job and telling his wife and kids about. It's a "special, special moment" he dreamt about and couldn't put it into words how good it felt.
--Asked about being a coach for OU during a bowl game, said he's unsure. He will be there for the next week's game and the Big 12 championship.
Ray Tanner:
--Asked about the bowl game and playing, said there has to be a lot of things that happen if they're in a position to play a bowl game. Hopefully they don't have any issues with COVID and they'll still decide later. They're not sure how it'll unfold. Depends on CFP and NY6 bowl games.
--He's excited about Beamer's passion.
--Not going to go into details about the contract just yet and won't be finalized until board approval. Board is meeting next week.
--Did do anything timeline-wise for coaching search until Will Muschamp was fired. Then the process moved quickly. Said he talked to a lot of people about the job and a number of former players both one on one and two Zoom calls. It went really quick.
--Mentioned they had multiple diversity candidates he interviewed for the job. That was part of the process and they had face to face interviews with a few diversity candidates.
--Asked about the Muschamp buyout, said things are still in its infancy so far but he's thought about it and those talks will be happening at some point.
--Said they had a lot of people reach out to him to hire Beamer. Said they did a good job explaining why Beamer was the right fit and earned a lot of trust in his former players.
That wasn't the deciding factor but it's a component.
--Asked about Dan Radokovich about the 2021 Clemson-South Carolina football game. Said they've talked about keeping the same schedule but nothing formal.
--Asked about fans being patient, said South Carolina fans want to win now. They want to be a team that doesn't rebuild but reload. Pro teams go from worst to first, and he wants to do that next year. They want to win now.
--Said he really liked the vision and plan for success was really attractive to him. Said he was extremely prepared for not only the interview but for a plan for success. Said he had a good plan for building a staff and a support staff.
--Team was very responsive to Beamer and the speech he gave in the indoor facilitiy.
--There was no monetary factors that influenced the decision. Mentions there is a deficit in athletics but the football budget "is what it is" and they didn't consider trying to save money elsewhere. Beamer never brought up his own salary. Said he wanted money to hire a good staff.
--Asked about hiring someone without head coaching or coordinator experience. Said there is no guarantees in hiring anyone. Fit is very important. Sustaining success is very hard to do. You can talk about Xs and Os, but he looks for an edge or intangible quality to separate himself. Said that came through with Shane Beamer.
Live video:
--Bob Caslen speaking first today. Said he's incredibly excited about today. Today is "a day of great excitement and great promise." Said he's happy he's part of the Gamecock family again. He knows how important athletics is for this university and it's woven into the culture at South Carolina.
"America loves a winner," and said Shane Beamer is that coach. He has experience, knows the area, knows the SEC and has the competence and character to bring things to a "championship level."
--Said Beamer spoke about trust is important and needs to be earned and wants the opportunity to earn it. He values integrity, unselfishness and building culture of not wanting to let the team down.
--Ray Tanner is speaking now. Begins by recognizing Bob Caslen and how involved he was in the process of hiring a coach. Said he never missed a meeting (whether in-person or virtually). Chance Miller was also incredibly valuable as well. Chad Chatlos was great as well throughout the process and was incredibly informative. BOT was very supportive of the process as well.
--Said Beamer is widely respected and has great relationships with former players and a lot of people in Columbia. He got into the coaching ranks early and has been associated with a lot of great programs, all at the Power 5. Mentioned he's been to 17 bowl games in 21 years, coached in a national championship game.
--Beamer has a "tremendous desire" to be at South Carolina. It's been that way for a while, not just during the coaching search. He's been preparing for a head coaching job for a while.
--Tanner is the "least bit concerned" about his inexperience being a coordinator.
--Lettermen showed up today to congratulate him and Beamer went out to talk to him since they weren't allowed in the building. Players are engaged and excited to get to play under Beamer.
Beamer
--Starts by saying today is a "dream come true" for him being at South Carolina and in the SEC. Thanks the administration for the opportunity and for a thorough interview process. Said they connected right off the bat and had great chemistry.
--Thanked Will Muschamp for his contributions and said he has a lot of respect for him and his ability. Said it was really good to see some of the lettermen.
--"I would have been crushed if this didn't happen." But did say it was "humbling" to see how many players reached out to him or to Ray Tanner vouching for him. Rattled off a few big names who called him to vouch.
"This is your program. I'm honored to be your head football coach."
--Sylvester Croom was a big influence on his life and is so thankful he took a chance on a 26 year old. Said he wouldn't be up there today without Steve Spurrier giving him a job in Columbia.
--He's learned so much from Kirby Smart and Lincoln Riley and Riley's been really helpful throughout this process and a good role model on what it takes to be a great head coach.
--Beamer has 600 unread texts on his phone. He thanks all the players who reached out.
--Jokes his in-laws are "SEC through and through" and him being on SEC Network is probably the highlight of him being their son-in-law.
--He gets choked up talking about his family and coming to South Carolina. Said "if I wanted to be the head coach at South Carolina we needed to go to Virginia Tech...baby, we did it."
--Over the last two weeks, Beamer's son would play Sandstorm.
--Mentions he didn't want to leave a place just to check a box. Said he wanted to be picky and this was a dream job for him. He's proud to be a South Carolina native and thinks there tools are there to win at South Carolina. It has "second to none" facilities and the infrastructure is exciting to have those kind of resources.
--Is always sos blown away by South Carolina and Williams-Brice as a coach here and as an opposing coach.
--Calls South Carolina is a top 25 athletic department with a high standard of winning. He's going to "support this athletics program" as best he can.
--Recruiting is going to start in the state and it's exciting to getting back into South Carolina high school programs and recruit. Said they're always welcome at South Carolina.
--Talking about going back to Oklahoma, said he doesn't want to leave the players out to dry at South Carolina. He talked about loyalty and it wouldn't be right to not finish out the season after preaching that. Sounds like he'll do that through the Big 12 title game. The current South Carolina players were receptive to it.
Mentions all of the things he can do he'll do virtually.
--He's already started to build what he called a "premier culture in college football."
--"You have my word we'll work every day to build a program you're proud of." Said they came up short in his final year here in a SEC title game, and they want to get over that hump. Gives him immense pride to put on the South Carolina logo.
Questions:
--Asked about his offensive and defensive philosophy, said they'll adjust and tweak the offensive system to bring out the best in the personnel. They have to be tough, have to be balanced. Need to be explosive and have explosive plays. That comes with scheme and through recruiting.
--Defensively they have to be multiple and fundamentally sound. He believes in that and they won't deviate from that.
--Said he never really got frustrated or down about not getting bigger jobs before. Mentions he didn't get a lot of jobs he interviewed for. Said the timing had to be right and was excited about the steps he was taking. "Things happen when they're supposed to happen."
--Asked about staffing, they're going through that process last night. He met with every staff member last night. There are great coaches on the staff and some he's worked with before. Envisions a few staff members who would be part of the program moving forward. He's going to take his time on the staff.
--Jokes he got four calls from head coaches in the NFL recommending people. Said the timeline is a little wonky because regular seasons are going on still but he'll get it done as soon as possible.
--Being able to see how his dad handled the stressors that come with being a head coach has been huge in his career. Said that helps his leadership abilities and he hopes to continue that at South Carolina.
--Asked about quickly turning things around, said he didn't get hired after presenting an eight or five year plan. They're going to start day one trying to advance the program day by day. They can't think long term. He'll finish up a press conference and get back on the phone with current players and recruits.
--Learned a lot learning from Steve Spurrier and it was surreal to be even considered for a job under Spurrier. He learned so much from him but the confidence and swagger was something else. Said he had a great confidence.
--Said recruiting has gone well. Said South Carolina and Oklahoma overlap in recruits and he's had a bunch reach out to him. He's eager to attack recruiting. Said they're going to outwork guys and find people who want to represent the University of South Carolina.
--Asked about support staff, said he has a lot of ideas and a plan and the university has assured him from a money standpoint those can be fulfilled. Mentions he's seen big support staffs to barebones ones.
--Beamer's preparing for a "pretty chaotic" few weeks. He and Riley have talked about things and said he'll have more opportunities in the afternoon and evening to get things done. Mentions he saw from Kirby Smart how to do it at Georgia. Biggest thing is compartmentalizing things and knocking things out.
--He and Tanner have talked about him going back to Oklahoma and resuming coaching duties and they felt confident with a plan. Zoom and virtual recruiting makes it a lot easier. If it was a contact period, said that would have changed things a little.
--Doesn't want to get into conversations with the assistants, but things are open ended.
--On "that program in the upstate," said they're on a good run but when he was here last the Gamecocks were on a pretty good run themselves against them.
--Asked about a bowl game, said he wouldn't coach in it but would be around for bowl practices. Those are always good to have younger guys developed.
--Having a lot of different roles as an assistant will really help him. Being special teams coordinator he had to manage the entire roster because every position group is involved. As recruiting coordinator, said he's had to manage a roster, manage scholarship limits, evaluate talent, etc.
As an associate head coach (and as a brief interim at Virginia Tech) he's had time to run meetings, etc. Mentions too he started building a binder over a decade ago about what he would do as a head coach. It changes now that he's in the chair, but he's ready for the challenge.
--Jokes about having Frank Beamer being heavily involved in the program. Said he promised Ray Tanner without talking to his dad about it.
--Good question from Marty Smith, asked about obstacles, said he doesn't see any just good opportunities. Said the program is positioned to have success from facilities, money, recruiting and it's exciting.
"I don't see any negatives."
--Asked about who he's recruiting, said he wants guys who want to be at South Carolina and are grateful for the opportunity to be a Gamecock. Obviously each spot has certain thing he's looking for but wants guys who are competitive, passionate and are high character.
--"Go where there's players." Wants to recruit this region (Carolinas, DMV, Florida, Georgia, etc.). Mentions he's heard from a lot of coaches in Virginia. Said being at Oklahoma helped him learn how to recruit nationally and develop ties across the country. Said they want to start at South Carolina and get amazing players from the state and then branch out.
"We're in a great location."
--Mentioned these guys in state can stay in South Carolina, compete in the SEC and compete for SEC titles.
--They're working a recruiting hashtag. Planning on trying to use that quite a bit, whatever it is.
--Declines to answer if he's a Zesto's or Rush's guy.
--Welcomes the chance to play "anyone and anywhere." Said he wants to compete against good teams.
--He wants high-character staff members to work with. They won't get in the door. They want good teachers and "elite recruiters" who are driven and have a passion for South Carolina.
--As for coordinators, said that will go back to the style of play and guys who can adjust and have been proven and have done it at a high level for a long time.
--Asked about culture, said love is a big principle: loving each other and loving the university. He's a positive energy guy. He hopes people see the trust, gratitude, energy on the football field.
That started getting built yesterday and will be further instilled once guys get back on campus in 2021.
--He's very, very familiar with the roster because they tried to recruit a lot of these guys. Mentions Jordan Burch, Jaheim Bell, Boogie Huntley, MarShawn Lloyd, etc. Said he watches the games and the coaching show so he knows what's going on with the program.
He doesn't care what happened last year. This is a fresh start and they're moving forward.
--Asked about the transfer portal, mentions it's unprecedented and it's going to get more hectic. He doesn't look at having to re-recruit the roster. Said he wants to get to know each guy and explain his plan to them. Said it's going to be hard work and he's going to be demaning.
"It's not just going to be words on a wall." They're going to have the right guys that want to be part of the culture. Most of the guys have gone home for exams, winter break. Said he's going to maintaining tabs on the roster frequently.
--Talked about things he believed in as a head coach and what he's passionate about. Said they talked scheme, coaching staff, support staff, why he wanted to be at South Carolina. That was a big chunk of it.
Said the initial talks with South Carolina was over an hour and he didn't look at one page of notes during it.
--Family is incredibly important to him. They love South Carolina and will be involved on the campus. He's a people person and wants to get out and meet with the fan base. He wants to be genuine and be positive with the people he's met.
--He got emotional talking about accepting the job and telling his wife and kids about. It's a "special, special moment" he dreamt about and couldn't put it into words how good it felt.
--Asked about being a coach for OU during a bowl game, said he's unsure. He will be there for the next week's game and the Big 12 championship.
Ray Tanner:
--Asked about the bowl game and playing, said there has to be a lot of things that happen if they're in a position to play a bowl game. Hopefully they don't have any issues with COVID and they'll still decide later. They're not sure how it'll unfold. Depends on CFP and NY6 bowl games.
--He's excited about Beamer's passion.
--Not going to go into details about the contract just yet and won't be finalized until board approval. Board is meeting next week.
--Did do anything timeline-wise for coaching search until Will Muschamp was fired. Then the process moved quickly. Said he talked to a lot of people about the job and a number of former players both one on one and two Zoom calls. It went really quick.
--Mentioned they had multiple diversity candidates he interviewed for the job. That was part of the process and they had face to face interviews with a few diversity candidates.
--Asked about the Muschamp buyout, said things are still in its infancy so far but he's thought about it and those talks will be happening at some point.
--Said they had a lot of people reach out to him to hire Beamer. Said they did a good job explaining why Beamer was the right fit and earned a lot of trust in his former players.
That wasn't the deciding factor but it's a component.
--Asked about Dan Radokovich about the 2021 Clemson-South Carolina football game. Said they've talked about keeping the same schedule but nothing formal.
--Asked about fans being patient, said South Carolina fans want to win now. They want to be a team that doesn't rebuild but reload. Pro teams go from worst to first, and he wants to do that next year. They want to win now.
--Said he really liked the vision and plan for success was really attractive to him. Said he was extremely prepared for not only the interview but for a plan for success. Said he had a good plan for building a staff and a support staff.
--Team was very responsive to Beamer and the speech he gave in the indoor facilitiy.
--There was no monetary factors that influenced the decision. Mentions there is a deficit in athletics but the football budget "is what it is" and they didn't consider trying to save money elsewhere. Beamer never brought up his own salary. Said he wanted money to hire a good staff.
--Asked about hiring someone without head coaching or coordinator experience. Said there is no guarantees in hiring anyone. Fit is very important. Sustaining success is very hard to do. You can talk about Xs and Os, but he looks for an edge or intangible quality to separate himself. Said that came through with Shane Beamer.
Live video:
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