Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Oklahoma coordinato­r Shane Beamer named South Carolina coach.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina has made it official, hiring ex-assistant Shane Beamer as its head football coach.

Beamer, 43, came to campus Sunday alongside Athletic Director Ray Tanner and was introduced to the team after spending the past three seasons as assistant head coach and tight ends coach at Oklahoma.

The son of longtime Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer takes over for Will Muschamp, who was fired last month with three games left in the season.

The Gamecocks (2-8) finished their season with a sixth consecutiv­e loss, 41-18 at Kentucky, on Saturday. Soon after that, word spread that Beamer was South Carolina’s choice to replace Muschamp.

Tanner, the AD since 2012, called Beamer the “perfect fit” to lead the Gamecocks, who have gone 6-16 overall and 5-15 in the SEC the past two seasons.

“I believe Shane’s energy, enthusiasm, commitment and fondness for our school and program will be met favorably by our student-athletes, staff and fans,” Tanner said in a statement.

Beamer spent four seasons as a South Carolina assistant under Steve Spurrier from 2007-10. He served as recruiting coordinato­r his final three seasons, helping fashion teams that won the SEC East in 2010 and went 11-2 each year from 2011-13.

Beamer also worked for his father at Virginia Tech, Kirby Smart at Georgia and, for the past three seasons, Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma. With the Sooners, Beamer worked with teams that have made the past three College Football Playoffs.

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