Sylvester Croom explains how he knew Shane Beamer would be a good head coach
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Sylvester Croom gave Shane Beamer his first job as an assistant coach back in 2004, shortly after being hired at Mississippi State.
Now, Beamer is leading the South Carolina Gamecocks and put up a better-than-expected 7-6 record in Year 1 of his tenure in Columbia.
That didn’t surprise Croom. In an interview with ESPN, Croom said he knew from the start that Beamer would be a success on his own merit, not just because his dad is the legendary Frank Beamer:
“His willingness to do whatever he could to help the program, and not necessarily help himself, is what jumped out to me,” Croom said. “He was smart and confident, and yet willing to listen and learn from people with more experience. He had a certain maturity about him too. He wasn’t one of those guys who just threw things out there. Any ideas or thoughts he had were well thought out. Even at a young age, he commanded respect.”
Beamer knows expectations are high as he prepares for Year 2 in Columbia. But, he’s excited for the challenge:
“I will always do what’s best for the South Carolina football program, and if I felt like making changes was the best thing for us last year, I certainly would have done it,” Beamer said. “But I didn’t. I wasn’t going to be swayed by public opinion. I’m in the foxhole with those guys each day, in the building with them day in and day out, and I know what’s being said in those meetings and know what’s being taught on the football field.
“Now, don’t get me wrong. We’ve got to be better this season in all three phases, head coaching included. But I was confident then and confident now that we have the staff in place to get where we want to go.”
Will the Gamecocks improve on last year’s 7 wins this fall? We’ll find out soon enough.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
