Gamecocks Football Head Coach Shane Beamer has the fanbase excited again. He has former players coming around again. The prodigal son has returned home to find the bar set where he helped put it, which is Atlanta.
If you ask the reasonable fan, they will tell you, six wins every year, and at least competing for a trip to Atlanta every four-to-five years.
In a normal set of circumstances, this is definitely a reasonable expectation. However, if the Gamecocks plan to change the standard in Columbia for good this time, fans must be able to embrace the long-term approach, and fully buy into the new regime.
Coach Beamer plucked from the Matt Rhule coaching tree when building his inaugural staff at South Carolina. Matt Rhule, who just wrapped up his first season leading the Carolina Panthers, is definitely viewed as an up and comer in the coaching ranks. One of the main reasons why, is he has been able to build on the long-term approach to building a program from the ground up, in order to sustain success.
Rhule’s first season as Head Coach at Temple, Rhule hobbled to a 2-10 record, before showing signs of improvement in year two(6-6) and then going a combined 20-7 during years three and four.
Rhule’s first season at Baylor, it was the same approach as Rhule started 1-11, and showed progress in year two(7-6), before building on that progress year three, leading the Bears to an 11-3 mark and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl.
Even with the Carolina Panthers, most would say his team this season was promisingly competitive, and most fans have bought in, despite a final record of 5-11 in year one.
Many other Head Coaches have overcome underwhelming first seasons to go on to have impressive tenures…
- Dan Mullen- Mississippi State (5-7)
- Nick Saban- Alabama (7-6)
- Pat Fitzgerald- Northwestern (4-8)
- PJ Fleck-Western Michigan (1-11)/Minnesota (5-7)
- Matt Campbell-Iowa State (3-9)
- Bobby Bowden-Florida State (5-6)
- Frank Beamer-Virginia Tech (2-9)
- Luke Fickell-Cincinnati (4-8)
I think we can all agree that those names built their respective programs the way we all hope Beamer builds Carolina in time… an emphasis on the “in time”.
The only expectation Gamecock Football fans should have for Shane Beamer should be to be competitive, to attempt to establish an identity, and to show progress, regardless of what happens in the win column in 2021.