Shane Beamer Says He's Staying At South Carolina Amid Virginia Tech Rumors

It would be very easy for South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer to take the Virginia Tech job.

After all, his father is Frank Beamer, the legendary head coach who led the Hokies to 23 consecutive bowl games from 1993-2015. That job is now available after the Hokies fired head coach Justin Fuente after six seasons and a 43-41 record.

Per CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd, Beamer joins Gary Patterson and Hugh Freeze atop Virginia Tech's wishlist. Beamer, however, has no interest in fleeing from Columbia to Blacksburg.

“This is where I want to be,” Beamer said on Tuesday. “When I say this is my dream job, I wasn’t just saying that to sound good in a press conference. This is where my wife and I and my family want to be.”

Beamer, 44, is in his first year as South Carolina head coach after spending 20 years as an assistant at other places. Beamer's most recent stop came at Oklahoma, where he served as assistant head coach under Lincoln Riley.

South Carolina (5-5, 2-5 SEC) have been a roller coaster this season but got its biggest victory under Beamer against Florida (5-5, 2-5 SEC) on Nov. 6. The Gamecocks trounced the Gators 40-17 at Williams-Brice Stadium, their first win over Florida since 2017. It was after the game where Beamer pledged his allegiance to South Carolina.

“This is why we came to South Carolina. This is why this is my dream job in the world, and there’s nowhere else I want to be," Beamer said after the game. "And this is why these coaches came here is for nights like this, and we’re gonna have a bunch of more nights like this going forward.

"And I’m certainly proud of our kids in the way they played tonight and so proud to be their coach and just love coaching them.”

Beamer, who moved to Blacksburg when he was 10, admittedly says he loves Virginia Tech.

“Obviously I love Virginia Tech,” Beamer said. “I moved there when I was 10 years old, I went to high school there, I went to college there, I coached there, my parents still live there. I have special memories of my time in Blacksburg and that’ll always be special to me.”

Beamer inherited a team that won just six games over the past two seasons. A rebuild was to be expected, but South Carolina looks to be ahead of schedule. After registering the 79th ranked recruiting class in 2021 with just 13 commits, South Carolina is ranked No. 21 in the 2022 rankings, per 247Sports. That's good for 8th in the SEC, ahead of schools such as Florida, Tennessee, Auburn and Ole Miss.

A win over Auburn (6-4, 3-3 SEC) or Clemson (7-3, 5-2 ACC) in the final two weeks will make South Carolina bowl eligible for the first time since 2018.