Shawn Elliott Gives Shane Beamer and South Carolina the Ultimate Endorsement

Family Ties and a Coaching Clock Reset  

Shawn Elliott is a native of Camden, South Carolina. During his time as head coach of Georgia State, his family stayed behind in Columbia, South Carolina. Elliott would commute home when time permitted. We often hear a coach in trouble say he is leaving “to spend more time with my family.” In this case, the family was a legitimate consideration.

Equally important was the fact that Elliott got a three-year contract at South Carolina and a reset on his coaching clock. Although he was successful at Georgia State, he never had a breakthrough campaign. The closest that Georgia State came to making the Sun Belt Conference championship game was in 2021, when the Panthers went 8-5, including 6-2 in the Sun Belt to finish second in the East Division.

Eventually, coaches who consistently hover around the .500 mark run out of time. Elliott did have the luxury of having the same athletic director who hired him, Charlie Cobb, still on the job. So, Elliott may have lasted for a while longer, provided he kept going to bowl games. But eventually, the heat was going to come as it always does. 

The late Oakland Raiders owner and Pro Football Hall of Famer Al Davis was much more correct than not in stating that the maximum coaching window is ten years.

Now, Elliott gets a career reset at home with his family at a place he is quite familiar with and three years to see what develops. And at South Carolina, there is potential upside.

Plotting a Comeback with Shane Beamer  

Elliott’s new boss, Shane Beamer, is coming off a disappointing 5-7 campaign in which QB Spencer Rattler’s senior season went to waste. South Carolina did finish 25^th in the nation for passing offense, but Rattler got no support. The ground game finished 130^th in the country, and the defense ranked 94^th nationally.

Beamer’s program was too reliant upon Rattler and will have a wide-open QB competition in spring camp with as many as five different potential starters. Redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers, redshirt senior transfer Robby Ashford, and graduate transfer Beville Davis head the list.

Having to break in a new starting QB will force Beamer to diversify his offense more and return to the complimentary football that produced bowls in his first two campaigns. 

Reasons for Optimism and Pessimism  

South Carolina has been a consistent top-25 recruiter dating back to the Steve Spurrier era. This year, the Gamecocks had the nation’s 20^th-ranked class after turning in a 16^th-ranked class in 2023.

Beamer arrived from Oklahoma, where he was the tight end and assistant head coach. Beamer also coached with Elliott in 2010 at South Carolina. At that time, Beamer was a special teams coach and recruiting coordinator.

Beamer was not the first choice of fans when he arrived. But he knows South Carolina from his previous four years there under the program coaching GOAT Steve Spurrier.

Much like Matt Rhule of Nebraska, Beamer knows how to preach the state’s football gospel. Upon his arrival, Beamer caravanned the state, selling his program. Fans quickly became converts after records of 7-6 in 2021 and 8-5 in 2022.

Last year, after a 2-6 starter, Beamer rallied his team to win three straight games. Thus, the Gamecocks had a shot at a bowl game in the regular season Senior Night finale against Clemson but lost 16-7 to fall a game short.

Elliott and Beamer can rightfully expected to productively mine the South Carolina footprint for talent and have strong ties to coaches in the region.

The 2024 schedule is daunting, but that is life in the SEC. A bowl bid may again come down to the regular season finale at Clemson.

But with the hiring of Elliott, Beamer looks secure and ready to make a postseason return.