Shane Beamer, considered to be one of the rising stars among coaches in college football, was named the University of South Carolina’s 36th head football coach, Director of Athletics Ray Tanner announced Sunday.

“I believe that Shane Beamer is the perfect fit to be the head football coach at the University of South Carolina,” he said. “He has worked under some of the greatest coaches in college football and has taken those lessons to become one of the bright, young minds in the game. I believe Shane’s energy, enthusiasm, commitment and fondness for our school and program will be met favorably by our studentathletes, staff and fans.”

BEAMER, 43, HAS been an assistant coach at 7 Football Bowl Subdivision schools for 21 seasons. During his career, he has coached in 17 bowl games, including a College Football Playoff National Championship game, has posted 18 non-losing seasons, 6 of those with double-digit victories and his teams have won 62.5 percent of its games.

“I have been preparing for this moment my entire life,” Beamer said. “I am ready and excited to be the head football coach at the University of South Carolina. I am thankful to all the head coaches that I have worked for, the assistant coaches and studentathletes I have worked with. My family and I are thrilled to be coming back to Columbia and the state of South Carolina.”

BEAMER HAS BEEN a part of building programs throughout his career. He has been a part of 3 coaching staffs, where the head coach was in his 1st or 2nd season at the school. He joined Lincoln Riley’s unit at Oklahoma in his 2nd season, Kirby Smart’s program at Georgia in his 1st season and Sylvester Croom’s staff at Mississippi State in his 1st season.

He comes to South Carolina from Oklahoma, where he has served as the assistant head coach for offense for the last 3 seasons. The Sooners led the nation in total offense, scoring offense and yards per play in 2018.

The Charleston native, returns to 1 of his previous coaching stops, having been with the Gamecocks for 4 seasons (2007-10), coordinating special teams and coaching outside linebackers, as well as serving as recruiting coordinator during his last 2 seasons.

IN 2009 AT South Carolina, Beamer was nominated for the Frank Broyles Award, which goes annually to the nation’s top assistant coach. His special teams’ units recorded 5 blocked kicks that season, tying for the SEC lead and tying for the 8th highest total in the nation.

He also helped coach a defensive unit that ranked 3rd in the SEC and 15th in the country in total defense, and 2nd in the league and 8th in the country in passing defense.

As the Gamecocks’ recruiting coordinator, his 2009 class was ranked 12th best by both Rivals and Scout, and the 2010 and 2011 classes were ranked in the Top 25.

“President (Bob) Caslen, (Senior Deputy Athletics Director) Chance Miller and I talked to some outstanding candidates for this position,” Tanner said. “Shane’s candidacy set the bar high as we were talking to other coaches. I want to add my appreciation for Chad Chatlos of Turnkey Search, who helped us navigate through this process.”

DURING BEAMER’S TENURE as recruiting coordinator at South Carolina, 9 of his signees were selected in the NFL draft. Those include 1st round selection Stephen Gilmore (Buffalo Bills) and 2nd round selections Alshon Jeffery (Chicago Bears) and D.J. Swearinger (Houston Texans).

The Gamecocks all-time winningest quarterback, Connor Shaw, and rushing touchdown leader, Marcus Lattimore, were also in the 2010 class.