**Shane Beamer, Erik Kimrey, Will Friend, and Pete Lembo will all speak to the media today. Updates will be in this thread.
Beamer:
**Beamer opens by saying he's excited about this group of coaches and that they all want to be at South Carolina. He thanks President Caslen and the University for giving him the resources to go hire these coaches.
**Says he's glad they were able to keep Mike Bobo around. Says proven SEC coordinators with a track record of success are hard to find. He says Mike Bobo would've been his first call for OC if he hadn't been on staff at South Carolina. Says his offense at Oklahoma is very similar to Bobo's offense and they plan on keeping some elements of his offense along with some "cutting-edge" stuff from what they were doing at Oklahoma.
**Calls running back coach Des Kitchings a fantastic recruiter and a fantastic coach. Says he's been blown away by him and what he's about since he's taken the job.
**Beamer worked with Tracy Rocker for one year at Georgia. Calls him loyal and demanding and say's he's a great technician when it comes to coaching defensive line. Says all three of those guys could've gone other places but they chose to stay.
**Mike Peterson was the only coach staying that Beamer didn't have a prior relationship with. Says the more people he talked to, the more obvious it became he needed to keep Mike Peterson.
**Beamer says under no circumstances was Connor Shaw not going to be a part of the program. Says his role will be similar but he will be more involved football-wise and in recruiting.
**Says Pete Lembo is one of the best special teams coaches in the country and if you ask any head coach who the best ST coach is, his name will come up quickly. Says Lembo had other opportunities and if he hadn't come, he probably wouldn't have hired a ST coordinator and would've coached it himself.
**Says Mike Bobo's most successful time as an OC, Will Friend was his offensive line coach. Says it wasn't easy to get him to leave Tennesse.
**On Erik Kimrey, he says he's more qualified than any other high school coach has ever been jumping to college. Says he's a heck of a football coach. Beamer says he and Spurrier used to talk about what a brilliant offensive mind Kimrey was.
**He says he's pleased with the progress in the last three on-field coaches and the strength and conditioning coach and wants to wrap that up soon.
**Says he wants great people in this program first and foremost. Wants to believe in the same things off the field. Says on the field, they've got to be multiple in their scheme with how good offenses have gotten.
Erik Kimrey: Kimrey starts by thanking his parents and Hammond for hiring him when he was 24. He thanks Jeff Scott for convincing him to come to South Carolina. He thanks Lou and Skip Holtz. He also thanks former players and high school coaches in South Carolina. He thanks South Carolina fans and notes how passionate they are. Lastly he thanks Shane Beamer, says he's a man with a lot of integrity and he's never heard a single person say a negative word about him.
**Says he doesn't know about the future of his podcast but it was a lot of fun to do it.
**Says he had some friends over to celebrate when he got hired but he's ready to get to work.
**On what he will tell recruits: There are great opportunities in Columbia when you're an SC graduate. Says they have a top-notch university that will prepare them for life.
**When asked if he would've taken a job elsewhere, he says no, it was only going to be for South Carolina.
**Says you need a consistent staff and great leadership to be successful. Says they need all hands on deck and they have to differentiate themselves.
**On how he can help Beamer: he's sustained success and knows how to meet expectations every year. He said most of all he's going to come in to learn and to work hard and recruit hard.
**On what he needs to learn: He's very excited about the recruiting aspect of the job and to show young men how special this place is. He says schematically some things will be more complex but at the end of the day, "football is football". He's been thinking outside the box about football for a long time and looks forward to implementing those ideas.
**Calls Mike Bobo one of the premier play-callers in college football and says he did a fantastic job last year. Says he's looking forward to learning a lot from him.
**Kimrey says he's prepared for more criticism and scrutiny. Says he understands the frustration when they aren't winning. Says he talked to Nick Muse last night and he's confident he'll be back next season.
**Says a couple of years ago, Beamer told him this was his dream job. He said he had his fingers crossed the whole process once Beamer got the job.
Will Friend: Says he can't wait to get on the job. Says he's excited to work with Bobo. Cites the passion from the 2012 Georgia game and he's never seen anything like that.
**On his philosophy: Wants to be physical and wants the offensive line to lead the team because they will lead the team the right way.
**Says there isn't a better play-caller in the country than Mike Bobo. Says he's excited to get back with Bobo because he has a comfort with him being the guy calling the plays.
**Says he knows some of his new players from recruiting and he's excited to get in here and see them compete and see who the best guys are.
**Says the offensive line needs to be more about the team than themselves. Says there's no bigger quality than the players who want to be great.
**On Tracy Rocker, who's he worked with twice before: He's an outstanding coach and an outstanding person.
**Says he can't wait to get back to work.
Pete Lembo: Calls Shane Beamer a great person and says he will excel as a head coach. Says he is excited about challenging himself in the most competitive conference in the country and that's "why we do what we do". Says his job is to build a relationship with every player and every staff in the building. Says it takes a village to have good special teams. Says if he's doing his job well, every player will become better because of it.
**Says when he was a head coach, he tried to be very comfortable with himself and not forget why he got the job. He says that's one thing that's impressed him about Shane Beamer and that will serve him well. Says being a special teams coach is similar to being a head coach because you have to have a relationship with every player and you have to be efficient with your time.
**Says the reverence he has for Frank Beamer when it comes to special teams is high and he looks forward to being around him. Says he's always trying to learn and get better and he has from Beamer.
**Says his days as a head coach has helped prepare him to be the best assistant coach he can be.
**Says he's excited about the specialists that are returning and that gives him the flexibility to work on other things.
**Says he will have to be adaptable and will be doing whatever Beamer needs him to do when it comes to sitting in on other meetings, etc.
**For special teams, he will be trying to get every player to buy-in no matter how often special teams they play. Says their special teams will reflect the culture of the program.
**Says big special team plays greatly increase your chances to win games and so do preventing big plays from the other opposing special teams.
**Says he's somewhat analytical in his thinking and always has the best interest of the team and the program in mind when it comes to which players will be on special teams from week to week.
**Asked about opening a game with an onside kick against Oklahoma in 2011 and says stealing a possession is important. Says those plays have to be thoughtful.
Beamer:
**Beamer opens by saying he's excited about this group of coaches and that they all want to be at South Carolina. He thanks President Caslen and the University for giving him the resources to go hire these coaches.
**Says he's glad they were able to keep Mike Bobo around. Says proven SEC coordinators with a track record of success are hard to find. He says Mike Bobo would've been his first call for OC if he hadn't been on staff at South Carolina. Says his offense at Oklahoma is very similar to Bobo's offense and they plan on keeping some elements of his offense along with some "cutting-edge" stuff from what they were doing at Oklahoma.
**Calls running back coach Des Kitchings a fantastic recruiter and a fantastic coach. Says he's been blown away by him and what he's about since he's taken the job.
**Beamer worked with Tracy Rocker for one year at Georgia. Calls him loyal and demanding and say's he's a great technician when it comes to coaching defensive line. Says all three of those guys could've gone other places but they chose to stay.
**Mike Peterson was the only coach staying that Beamer didn't have a prior relationship with. Says the more people he talked to, the more obvious it became he needed to keep Mike Peterson.
**Beamer says under no circumstances was Connor Shaw not going to be a part of the program. Says his role will be similar but he will be more involved football-wise and in recruiting.
**Says Pete Lembo is one of the best special teams coaches in the country and if you ask any head coach who the best ST coach is, his name will come up quickly. Says Lembo had other opportunities and if he hadn't come, he probably wouldn't have hired a ST coordinator and would've coached it himself.
**Says Mike Bobo's most successful time as an OC, Will Friend was his offensive line coach. Says it wasn't easy to get him to leave Tennesse.
**On Erik Kimrey, he says he's more qualified than any other high school coach has ever been jumping to college. Says he's a heck of a football coach. Beamer says he and Spurrier used to talk about what a brilliant offensive mind Kimrey was.
**He says he's pleased with the progress in the last three on-field coaches and the strength and conditioning coach and wants to wrap that up soon.
**Says he wants great people in this program first and foremost. Wants to believe in the same things off the field. Says on the field, they've got to be multiple in their scheme with how good offenses have gotten.
Erik Kimrey: Kimrey starts by thanking his parents and Hammond for hiring him when he was 24. He thanks Jeff Scott for convincing him to come to South Carolina. He thanks Lou and Skip Holtz. He also thanks former players and high school coaches in South Carolina. He thanks South Carolina fans and notes how passionate they are. Lastly he thanks Shane Beamer, says he's a man with a lot of integrity and he's never heard a single person say a negative word about him.
**Says he doesn't know about the future of his podcast but it was a lot of fun to do it.
**Says he had some friends over to celebrate when he got hired but he's ready to get to work.
**On what he will tell recruits: There are great opportunities in Columbia when you're an SC graduate. Says they have a top-notch university that will prepare them for life.
**When asked if he would've taken a job elsewhere, he says no, it was only going to be for South Carolina.
**Says you need a consistent staff and great leadership to be successful. Says they need all hands on deck and they have to differentiate themselves.
**On how he can help Beamer: he's sustained success and knows how to meet expectations every year. He said most of all he's going to come in to learn and to work hard and recruit hard.
**On what he needs to learn: He's very excited about the recruiting aspect of the job and to show young men how special this place is. He says schematically some things will be more complex but at the end of the day, "football is football". He's been thinking outside the box about football for a long time and looks forward to implementing those ideas.
**Calls Mike Bobo one of the premier play-callers in college football and says he did a fantastic job last year. Says he's looking forward to learning a lot from him.
**Kimrey says he's prepared for more criticism and scrutiny. Says he understands the frustration when they aren't winning. Says he talked to Nick Muse last night and he's confident he'll be back next season.
**Says a couple of years ago, Beamer told him this was his dream job. He said he had his fingers crossed the whole process once Beamer got the job.
Will Friend: Says he can't wait to get on the job. Says he's excited to work with Bobo. Cites the passion from the 2012 Georgia game and he's never seen anything like that.
**On his philosophy: Wants to be physical and wants the offensive line to lead the team because they will lead the team the right way.
**Says there isn't a better play-caller in the country than Mike Bobo. Says he's excited to get back with Bobo because he has a comfort with him being the guy calling the plays.
**Says he knows some of his new players from recruiting and he's excited to get in here and see them compete and see who the best guys are.
**Says the offensive line needs to be more about the team than themselves. Says there's no bigger quality than the players who want to be great.
**On Tracy Rocker, who's he worked with twice before: He's an outstanding coach and an outstanding person.
**Says he can't wait to get back to work.
Pete Lembo: Calls Shane Beamer a great person and says he will excel as a head coach. Says he is excited about challenging himself in the most competitive conference in the country and that's "why we do what we do". Says his job is to build a relationship with every player and every staff in the building. Says it takes a village to have good special teams. Says if he's doing his job well, every player will become better because of it.
**Says when he was a head coach, he tried to be very comfortable with himself and not forget why he got the job. He says that's one thing that's impressed him about Shane Beamer and that will serve him well. Says being a special teams coach is similar to being a head coach because you have to have a relationship with every player and you have to be efficient with your time.
**Says the reverence he has for Frank Beamer when it comes to special teams is high and he looks forward to being around him. Says he's always trying to learn and get better and he has from Beamer.
**Says his days as a head coach has helped prepare him to be the best assistant coach he can be.
**Says he's excited about the specialists that are returning and that gives him the flexibility to work on other things.
**Says he will have to be adaptable and will be doing whatever Beamer needs him to do when it comes to sitting in on other meetings, etc.
**For special teams, he will be trying to get every player to buy-in no matter how often special teams they play. Says their special teams will reflect the culture of the program.
**Says big special team plays greatly increase your chances to win games and so do preventing big plays from the other opposing special teams.
**Says he's somewhat analytical in his thinking and always has the best interest of the team and the program in mind when it comes to which players will be on special teams from week to week.
**Asked about opening a game with an onside kick against Oklahoma in 2011 and says stealing a possession is important. Says those plays have to be thoughtful.
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