COLUMBIA, S.C. — When Kirby Smart was hired as Georgia’s head football coach in 2016, Shane Beamer was a part of that process of building up the Bulldog program.
Beamer spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as Georgia’s tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. South Carolina’s third-year head football coach says much of what he learned under Smart has been implemented in Columbia. He recalls how Smart took an active role in the crafting of the special teams game plan. In some weeks, Beamer took the lead in developing the plan of attack but as the head coach, Smart would occasionally provide input on something he wanted out of special teams and it was Beamer’s job to coach the players up to carry out those assignments.
Much like working with his current special teams coach Pete Lembo, Beamer and Smart had a solid working relationship where the head coach had tremendous trust in his position coach but would not hesitate to add his own wrinkle or two if needed.