Is South Carolina’s hiring of Shane Beamer a good idea?

Today, Shane Beamer was unveiled as the new coach of South Carolina.

His arrival comes just 3 weeks after Will Muschamp was given the heave-ho after boosters threatened to withdraw funding if he wasn’t replaced (It caused a ton of people leaving).

Beamer – the son of former Virginia Tech head coaching legend Frank Beamer – was formerly the tight ends coach at Oklahoma.

Beamer had already had experience in Columbia – he spent 3 years there between 2007-2010 as cornerbacks, linebackers and special teams coach.

He has also had SEC experience at Tennessee, Mississippi State, and finally the TE/ST coach at Georgia before he moved to Norman.

Beamer is loved by the administration, and a booster told me recently: “They are going to hire him because the former players love him”. He was part of a team that had a trio of 11-win seasons under Steve Spurrier, and managed to draw in talent like Jadeveon Clowney, Stephon Gilmore and Alshon Jeffery. It’s not like Beamer couldn’t recruit.

But is this a good hire?

It’s a great hire on one side because former players at the school and wherever he’s gone absolutely love him. He’s earned respect now, after playing for four years at Virginia Tech, and have several roles.

If you look who he’s learned from, he would have learned a lot of fabulous offensive tricks from his time at Oklahoma, and a lot about defense from his time at Georgia.

That’s why it’s going to be fascinating to see who hires as his coordinators. And he’s going to need his recruiting staff to be willing to think outside of the box. That’s because South Carolina is essentially the SEC’s equivalent of Iowa State. Matt Campbell came there and created a ‘five-star culture’, that has now sent him team to the Big 12 Championship Game in just his third year. He’s been sensational. Beamer – in a world where Clemson and Georgia seems to rule the earth in his State – is going to have to be able to get a lot of under-the-radar talent in an effort to succeed.

And for the boosters, they are going to have to learn that it’s going to take awhile. They won’t come out of the gate and beat Clemson five years straight, and own the states of Georgia and Florida in recruiting. It just won’t happen quickly.