Six games into the 2024 season, South Carolina was 3-3 with no shot at the College Football Playoff, and fans were calling for head coach Shane Beamer's head. In his fourth season as a head coach, it felt like it was just going to be another mediocre season where the Gamecocks would get a middle-of-the-road bowl game and just get ready for the next season.
However, after a 3-3 start, South Carolina was heading to Oklahoma to face the Sooners for the first time ever, but Shane Beamer felt like he was returning home. Beamer spent a good portion of his coaching career at Oklahoma under Lincoln Riley, but in 2021 was hired as the Gamecocks head coach.
The biggest thing about that game against Oklahoma was that it set something off in this South Carolina team, which led them into a great bye week to get them healthy and ready for the stiff competition ahead. The Gamecocks then went on to have a six-game win streak, led my Beamer.
The Gamecocks ended up finishing the season 9-3 and were on the cusp of making the College Football Playoff until the committee decided they didn't care about resumes and quality of wins. However, the way South Carolina ended their season put the spotlight on Beamer as a coach, so much so that he was just named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
Scratch that semi!
— Gamecock Football (@GamecockFB) December 10, 2024
Congratulations to @CoachSBeamer on being a FINALIST for the National Coach of the Year! pic.twitter.com/8R6dLo1Eyq
In four seasons as a head coach at South Carolina, Beamer has a 29-21 record with the Gamecocks, but what should be noted is that he has a 13-4 record in the month of November, showing that he knows how to bring his team together at the end of the season and playing their best football at the best time of the year.
Other finalists named for this award are as follows:
- Curt Cignetti, Indiana 11-1 record, CFP appearance
- Spencer Danielson, Boise State 12-1, MW Champion, CFP appearance
- Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State 11-1, Big 12 Champion, CFP appearance
- Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame 11-1, CFP appearance
- Dan Lanning, Oregon 13-0, Big Ten Champion, CFP appearance
- Rhett Lashlee, SMU 11-2, CFP appearance
- Jeff Monken, Army 11-1, AAC Champion
- Kirby Smart, Georgia 11-2, SEC Champion, CFP appearance
Beamer is in great company with the rest of the finalists, and the winner of the award will be announced on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, and presented on January 18, 2025, at the College Football National Championship.