South Carolina football: Shane Beamer using social media to build brand

The South Carolina football coach has been active on Twitter.

Earlier in the offseason, we wrote a piece on how Shane Beamer has been able to use social media to change the narrative surrounding South Carolina football. Prior to his hiring, the program was trending in the wrong direction. Coach Will Muschamp was fired midseason, a number of contributors opted to leave the team for greener pastures, and momentum on the recruiting trail was almost non-existent.

Fast forward to July, and that social media presence has been a major influence on the outside view of the university. Coach Beamer can be seen daily on Twitter as he promotes the city of Columbia, the football program, former players, and the athletic department as a whole. It’s resulted in new life from the fanbase, and a hope for the future.

Beamer’s work on social media hasn’t gone unnoticed, either.

Skull Sparks, a company that compiles analytical data for college athletic departments, recently unveiled a list of the 12 coaches generating the most buzz on Twitter during the month of June. Coach Beamer ranked second with more than 57,000 interactions on his personal account. Only his last employer, Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley, had more.

The social media presence seems to be paying off, as South Carolina has secured commitments from more than a dozen high school prospects in the months of June and July.

More than that, it’s created a positivity around the program that the fanbase was in desperate need of following a couple of rough seasons. Despite the Gamecocks having a young team and a leader with no head coaching experience, folks around college football are speaking highly of the future. That was almost unfathomable just a few short months ago, when the program appeared to be digging a hole it wouldn’t be able to emerge from.

Shane Beamer has truly changed the culture in Columbia, and his passion for the University of South Carolina is evident. He was very surgical in the selection of his staff, with nearly all of the new hires consisting of young, hungry coaches that could relate to the new generation. Now, he’s starting to see the fruits of his labor, and he has recruits wanting to take trips to see everything that the program has to offer.

Things are trending up for South Carolina football. How far can Shane Beamer take it?