South Carolina football: RJ Young higher on Shane Beamer than most

Analyst RJ Young grades South Carolina football’s coaching hire.

Opinions of South Carolina football’s hire of new head coach Shane Beamer have been a bag of mixed reviews. Some love the coach’s energy and excitement for the university, as well as his experience on some of college football’s best staffs. Those staffs include Steve Spurrier’s at South Carolina, Kirby Smart’s at Georgia, Lincoln Riley’s at Oklahoma, and his father Frank Beamer’s at Virginia Tech.

Others, however, have their doubts on whether a leader with zero head coaching experience can turn around a team that’s won just six games in the last two seasons combined. The concerns are valid, particularly when you add the fact that Beamer has never even called plays at the college level. But there’s one analyst that seems to be higher on the South Carolina hire than most.

RJ Young of Fox Sports, rated Shane Beamer as a “B” hire, a grade that ranks ahead of fellow SEC newcomer Bryan Harsin at Auburn. It also falls in line with the Brett Bielema hire at Illinois as the sixth best addition of the 2021 offseason.

Beamer is already making an impact in Columbia, immediately upgrading a roster that was depleted following the release of Will Muschamp. The Gamecocks lost a number of players to the transfer portal, and had question marks all over the field. Fast forward to May, and some of those questions have been answered. Beamer convinced last season’s sack leader Jordan Strachan to come aboard, as he did with Georgia Tech pass catcher Ahmarean Brown.

All in all, the new head coach brought in a dozen players from either the transfer portal or JUCO ranks to help salvage the 2021 recruiting class. He’s beginning to build on that for the next cycle, where’s already landed his quarterback of the future, and has the Gamecocks in with a number of highly rated prospects.

Beamer will ultimately be judged by his on-field performance, but the path to improvement is there. Expectations for this season will be relatively low, with a bowl appearance being a step in the right direction. The key for Beamer will be building on the culture in Columbia, and being able to present the city and university as an attractive destination for both players and coaches.

There will definitely be growing pains in year one, but grades like this one from Young have to give Gamecocks fans hope for the future and the vision that Shane Beamer is creating for South Carolina football.