First year USC football coach Shane Beamer is roughly four months into his tenure in Columbia, and he’s ready to do some coaching. He’s taken care of all the necessary foundation work when it comes to putting a staff together and filling out a recruiting class. He has watched from the side as his strength and conditioning staff has worked with the players in the weight room and in drills outside. But beginning Saturday morning, he and his staff will have 15 practices, including a spring game, to start to mold this team in their image.
Thursday morning Beamer held a Zoom press conference session with the media during which he answered many questions about the team, the personnel and his philosophies.
Some of Beamer’s key comments:
- Giving the players more time this spring to work with the strength and conditioning staff has worked out well, glad he pushed back the start of practice. Guys are getting bigger, faster, stronger and more explosive.
- This is a different looking football team compared to the one he took over in December.
- They’ve got every resource available at USC to win championships and that’s what they plan to do. You can win at South Carolina.
- Got a good group of guys on the team, and they’ve got people in their building who are as good as it gets anywhere in the country.
- Players are hungry, they have done everything the coaches have asked them to do, there is a strong desire to be successful.
- Will have some guys who will be out or limited for spring practice, will be meeting with staff about that later today, it’s a handful of guys. Marshawn Lloyd is one coming off his surgery.
- Marshawn Lloyd has been “fantastic” during the offseason, he’s at the very top of the team in terms of accountability, he’s on track from a health standpoint.
- Every position is a clean slate, including quarterback, lots of new faces throughout, spent zero time talking to staff about starters returning and depth chart, it’s just wide open competition.
- OrTre Smith and RJ Roderick have been great in the weight room and how they have handled their business off the field, very happy to have them back.
- Has seen some things from the transfers in the weight room and outside on the field that excites him, has not seen anything from any one in particular leading him to think they missed on a guy, anxious to see them in the live drills.
- Excited about receiver group because he has the best receivers coach in the country coaching them in Justin Stepp, and they are hungry. Got guys with size, strength, length and can run. It’s a fresh start for them.
- Core values include love for playing football and love of playing for USC, positivity, coaching hard, trust, toughness, accountability and competition.
