Full transcript of the Shane Beamer Sunday Conference Call

Beamer:

That was a great road win for us yesterday in a really tough environment. That’s one of the harder venues in this country to play in and a really cool arena to be able to go compete in. So awesome win, proud of our players and their response they had all week, certainly leading into the game, but then there’s certainly their responses during the game, you know, to go down on the road 7-0 in a place that’s amped up and ready for you. And then we responded with a touchdown and then to be down 10 to 7. And we responded again. And then in the third quarter to give up points on the opening drive defensively. And then everybody’s, that’s a big, big, big drive for our offense after that opening drive of the third quarter against the defense. And then for our offense to come right back and answer with points. I mean, it was a game of responses, and that turnover margin was huge, obviously. I told some people, I think I told Todd Ellis maybe on the radio show on Thursday night, it kind of reminded me of a couple years ago, we had lost the turnover margin against Alabama over in Tuscaloosa that day. I think we turned the ball over four times, and we made a big emphasis like we always do. But then we went to Oklahoma on the road. Noon kickoff, I think, and got three turnovers in the first quarter alone and scored twice on defense, and was hoping that Saturday would be the same. And that was really big for us yesterday. There’s no question about it. Injury-wise, everybody that missed the game yesterday, or left the game like Judge Collier did, we all expect to be back against Tennessee. The only one that we would be, that we are most concerned about that I don’t know about his availability for Tennessee is Quay’Sheed Scott. We’ll see how some testing goes this week for him as far as his availability. But everybody else is trending to be fine by the time we get to Tennessee in a couple weeks. A couple other things. Our bye week schedule coming up, gave everybody the day off today, including the coaches. They were all working on their own. So I don’t have players of the game and all that to give you right now. We’re meeting tomorrow morning at 7 AM with the coaching staff to get all that finalized and then bring the players in. Tomorrow, we’ll meet and review the game from yesterday. We’ll practice Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s actually fall break at South Carolina this weekend. So that’s coming at a perfect time from a bye week plus fall break standpoint. So I don’t want to hold our players hostage here if they don’t have class on Thursday and Friday. So we’ll turn them loose Wednesday after classes, after practice. They’ll be off Thursday, Friday, Saturday. They need a break. It’s a long season. We don’t have two bye weeks like we had the last couple of years. We only have one this season, and you’re seeing what a gauntlet it is in the SEC every week. And it’s been a mental and physical grind through the first six weeks. Everybody needs a break. So the players will have three days off. They’ll be back in here on Sunday to get ready for Tennessee, our continued preparations for Tennessee. And then we, as a coaching staff, will be able to get out recruiting Thursday and Friday. As I told you guys yesterday in the press conference, it’s great to be able to go on the road after a win where so many people saw that game, so many people are talking about it, and being able to go on the road with some momentum to continue to add to this 2027 signing class that we have committed right now, and then where we are with young prospects also. So that’s kind of our schedule for the week, and want to thank our fans too, the ones that traveled to Gainesville yesterday. They were awesome, man. Heard them throughout, saw them. We told our players on Tuesday, showed a picture of Florida Stadium on Tuesday morning in our team meeting and it was empty. We always do that just to get our players an idea of what the venue that we’re going to play in looks like, and showed them a picture of the stadium on Tuesday morning. And like I said, that’s an awesome place to play, and feel blessed to be able to coach in that environment yesterday, but showed our players a picture of the stadium on Tuesday morning and said the goal and the plan is for that place to be empty come the fourth quarter on Saturday, except for a bunch of garnet and black in that stadium. And that’s exactly what it ended up being at the end of the game. So really appreciate our fans. We got better as a team this week. And the key for us is going to be to continue to get better this week in practice on and off the field and make strides as we go into six straight games, five SEC games in a row, and then Clemson to finish the year.

Question:

Hey, Shane, just how proud and maybe even surprised are you about the defense playing so well yesterday, despite, as you mentioned, going in without three starters and then losing another one during the game?

Beamer:

Yeah, very proud, David. I wouldn’t say surprised. I mean, it wasn’t like we were watching the tape the last few weeks wondering, you know, why did that happen? I mean, it’s pretty simple when you don’t get turnovers and you give up big plays, and we knew why we were giving up big plays. The fix is, I don’t want to say easy; otherwise, we would have done it two, three weeks ago, but I know those guys just continued to make progress, and we talked about it all throughout the week and pre-game. They’ve got to be great with their eyes, and I thought they did a really nice job yesterday of just being where they were supposed to be, other than the busted coverage that gave up the touchdown in the first quarter, being where they were supposed to be and then just playing really, really hard, David. And when you play with great effort and strain to the ball, good things happen and you’re able to overcome, you know, potential mistakes. And there’s a lot to clean up too. Don’t get me wrong. I mean, we played some coverages with the wrong technique, and we misaligned the wrong way a couple of times up front on defense. We had a couple of pressures we called that we didn’t quite execute the way we wanted to. Offensively, a lot to clean up. A lot to be better at; we were just off yesterday and not as efficient as we needed to be, particularly in the run game. We left some plays out there. Special teams left a lot to be desired in some areas too. So we’re proud of the win, and we’re going to enjoy it, but there’s also a lot to coach off of this tape too, in all three phases to get better at.

Question:

Hey Shane, I’d love to get your thoughts on Dylan’s performance yesterday and what him being out there did for this defense. But at the same time, also wanted to ask what difference, if any, did you notice out of him during the week that allowed him to get back out there and play for you guys post-suspension?

Beamer:

Yeah, I think Jack, he was awesome throughout the game. I mean, obviously his impact on the field is evident. I mean, the NFL is watching him for a reason. He’s a special talent in the way that he’s able to affect other teams’ offenses. I know Coach Sumrall talked about him after the game, and rightfully so. I thought he did a great job, not just against the pass, but I really thought he played the run well, just fitting gaps and being where he was supposed to be, playing hard, straining to the ball. And then the other thing too is I told him, the eyes are on you, and you know Florida’s going to try and provoke you into things, and they’re probably going to be saying things to you and doing things to you after the whistle. I’m not accusing them of anything. I’m not saying that. But you’ve put on tape that you’ve got to be better about handling your emotions. So you’ve got to just be poised and handle your emotions and play disciplined throughout. And he did a great job of that. There’s a standard that we have in our program of how we do things on and off the field, in practice, in the classroom, whatever it may be. And he did a great job. I mean, I told him on Friday night at the hotel I was really proud of him because we always meet with our support staff on Thursdays in our staff meeting. And we go through the academics of every player and how they’re doing and what they did in class this week, where they need to pick it up. And our academic people said that last week, Dylan had the best week from an academic standpoint of doing what he’s supposed to do of any week that he’s had since he’s been at South Carolina. And that says everything to me about him and the kind of week that he had. And really, just proud of him putting in off the field and the growth that took place.

Question:

Sticking with Dylan, how did it come to be that he was the first off the bus with you?

Beamer:

Good question. I didn’t even realize that, to be honest with you. I guess wherever he was, I didn’t tell him to. I didn’t even know he was until somebody showed me a picture of that, one of you guys snapped it or something like that. I don’t even think he was on the first bus with me. I think he was on the second bus yesterday, if I’m not mistaken, but I don’t know. That’s a long walk from where we parked the buses to get to the locker room. So I guess he was just walking with a pretty good pace and caught up with me since I was the first one off. Maybe wherever he was sitting on his bus, he was sitting near the front, so he got off quickly. But I say there was something to that too. He was eager to get in that locker room and, you know, I’d want him up there with me walking into the locker room as much as anybody on that team. So that was pretty cool to see.

Question:

Hey, Shane. TV obviously captured that moment between LeNorris and Mazio in the first quarter after that missed touchdown. Nick kind of gets in there, I guess, to separate them. But for that to happen, trailing on the road and have it not lead to any negative blowup and really leading to them both kind of settling in, what’s that kind of speak to their connection and also LeNorris’ growth as a vocal leader?

Beamer:

Yeah, I think it. I think it speaks to our culture, Mingo, that we got a bunch of brothers on this team, and LeNorris mentioned it in the press conference after the game yesterday that brothers get on each other, and both of those guys are passionate, competitive guys. And there were certainly things that they both could have been better at yesterday, but they’re passionate, and they both want to win, and they’re competitive. And I love the fire. And that’s what happens on teams: you challenge one another, and you love one another, and you have hard conversations with people, and you respond. But I thought it was great. Speaks to the culture, how competitive these guys are, and they can say those things to one another and not allow things to fracture and blow up by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, I told you guys yesterday, I got on Harbor, the one deep ball we tried to throw him early in the game on our sideline, and I didn’t think he was running as fast as he should have. And maybe I’m wrong, but I challenged Nick, and after he caught that touchdown pass, he challenged me right back. And flying back last night, he sits a few seats in front of me on the plane, and I got up, and I told him, hey man, you know, I love you, right? And he’s like, yeah, and I love you too. And I was like, I’m going to continue to challenge you because I want to see your best. And he’s like, I get it, man. Let’s go. And that’s just what competitors do. And that’s what being on a team is all about.

Question:

I know Donovan Murph has played inside and out over these last several weeks, but what does he add to the group being able to play both those spots outside and the slot? And what did you see from him on tape yesterday?

Beamer:

His ability to do that’s huge for us right now. As I mentioned to you guys last week, I think losing Jaden Sellers, that’s a big loss for us in the slot position at the receiver spot. And right now we have Mazio. And then Sequel Patterson, we’re trying to continue to bring him along. And Sequel’s going to be a good player. He got in there yesterday. He was in there on one of those touchdown passes. I think the one to Murph down by our tunnel. But Sequel got in there yesterday, and this bye week will be big for him. We’ve got to continue to develop some depth there at that slot position. But Murph being able to play inside and outside just gives us a lot more flexibility where, you know Murph can play outside, and we need those guys on the outside like Malik and Lex to continue to come along. But Murph also can go inside and then allow DJ and Nick and Malik and Lex and those other guys, Nitro, whoever, to get reps on the outside. So the more you can do, the better. That’s at any position, but certainly Murph’s ability to do both allows us some flexibility on offense from a depth standpoint. And that’ll be one of the things that we’ll talk about tomorrow in our staff meeting as we go into the bye week. We’ve got to continue to develop depth at the receiver position and other positions on offense, defense too. But we need some young guys to really take a step this week and be able to help us the last half of the season more so than they are right now.

Question:

Sticking with the wide receivers, Cyrus is a guy that saw an increased workload yesterday, and what led to him getting more snaps yesterday, and with him seeming to be able to make the most of his opportunities is he a guy that could continue to increase that workload move forward?

Beamer:

Yeah, Lex practices the right way. I mean, I’m proud of Lex because last season, there was all this talk about this receiving class that we were bringing in as true freshmen, and all those guys are really, really, really good players, but Lex was the one that really didn’t play last season for us as much as maybe he wanted to. He was basically just on the scout team last year. But he really worked last year on the scout team in practice. He got better. He had an awesome attitude. And he’s going through a little bit of a rough stretch right now because he’s a Philadelphia Eagles fan. So we’ve tried to keep his spirits up. I think they lost today, but the last couple of weeks he’s been in the dumps a little bit. But he overcame that a little bit. And his role yesterday was one: how he practiced. Two, going back to that conversation I said about trying to get more and more guys in the game, he fits the bill there. And then three, how the game was going: we were in control of that game and wanted to get some other guys in there and give them a chance. And he got in there and showed what he could do. He did some nice things, caught a nice pass, kind of an intermediate pass, caught the touchdown pass. We actually missed him on the third-and-one play on that one, did a nice job of running that route too. So I’m excited to see Lex continue to come on. He’s got a speed and a big play element to him that we need to continue to tap into.

Question:

To follow up on Dylan, obviously he just couldn’t really play football for a long time, resting from his injury. Suspension aside, just what does a dominant performance like he had yesterday do to kind of recharge him, and not just him, but the edge rusher room in general?

Beamer:

Yeah, it’s big. And you’re exactly right. It’s a great point. And I think that was some of Dylan’s frustrations against, you know, Mississippi State and Alabama, not justifying at all, but I think he was very frustrated because he didn’t feel like he was playing well. He didn’t feel like he was making an impact because he didn’t feel 100%, whether it be from a health standpoint, conditioning standpoint, whatever it may be. And my message to him was, Dylan, you being 50% and only playing 10 plays a game, you’re going to make an impact more so than most guys that only play 50% or at 50%. And he continues to get better. He’s an impactful player. There’s no question about it. He brings another element to the pass rush. Obviously, it makes the people on the other side, Anthony Addison and George Wilson and Caleb Herring, makes them even better because Dylan’s on the other side. So he affects, or he attracts a lot of attention because of the player he is. And I’m excited to see him continue to get better from an overall standpoint. The conditioning aspect of it now, he’s got an off week and then another week before we play a game, and just all that coming back off the injury from not playing. And then the conditioning part of it too; this will be a huge couple of weeks for him, and we should see an even better version of him against Tennessee.

Question:

You watched your father as a coach go through the ups and downs of winning and losing. I know this is a dfferent era, but what did you learn from watching him that has helped you deal with the up and down nature of the coaching business of today?

Beamer:

Yeah, great question, Phil. Appreciate it. It’s the expectations and the passion. I mean, I was in high school back then when my dad was coaching and I learned a lot from my dad that I hope that I embody now. Just his consistency. He used to tell his players, I can’t remember if I told you guys this in the press conference last week or not. I apologize if I did, but I told our team this on Tuesday; my dad used to say it all the time: things are never as good as they seem, and things are never as bad as they seem. They’re somewhere in the middle. And just stay steady and stay consistent. And there’s something good coming. You just got to keep working. And I told our players that last week. And one of my dad’s former coaches texted me that last night after the game. And I’m like, it’s crazy you just texted me that because I told our team this on Tuesday. So I saw that from him. That was a good lesson, being able to see him growing up that way as a son and how he handled our house and his team. I’d say the biggest thing that’s different: my freshman year in high school, Virginia Tech won five games. My sophomore year in high school, Virginia Tech won two games. And my dad got hired at Virginia Tech. I was going into 5th grade. It was my junior year in high school before Virginia Tech even went to a bowl game. So 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade, 9th grade, 10th grade, they never went to a bowl game. And there were a lot of people that were probably down on my dad, but back then, if they wanted to tell you that they thought you stunk, they either had to write a letter to the editor in a newspaper, or they literally had to say something to your face. And back then, I know there are some younger people on this call, but there used to be this thing called a phone book. And people had house phones. And I was telling my kids this last week, Phil, when I was growing up, like if my buddy was Phil, I would have to call Phil’s house and be like, hi, Mr. and Ms. Kornblut, is Phil home? And then I would talk to Phil on the phone. And they were like, wow, really? And I said, yes. And if you were on the phone at your house and somebody needed the phone, they would pick up the phone. I can still hear my dad’s voice, me being on the phone, talking to somebody and my dad picking up the phone at the house and saying, Shane, I need the phone. And I’d have to be like, okay, buddy. So I digress, but we had a home phone at Virginia Tech that, for some reason, our home phone number was listed. And I can remember, after a loss my sophomore year in high school, somebody calling our house. And my younger sister, she’s four years younger than me, so she would have been, I don’t know, 10 or 11 years old at the time, picking up the phone and the guy calling and saying, is Coach Beamer home? And my sister is saying, no, he’s not here right now. And then some guy unloads on my sister and tells her, you tell your dad what a horrible football coach he is. And I told my kids that story last week, and they’re like, oh my God, really? Or I remember going to a basketball game in Roanoke, Virginia, with my mom and my sister and a friend, and somebody on the street in front of us talking bad about my dad as a football coach. That’s how you heard that stuff. But now what’s different is, because of social media, it’s completely different because you may not even be looking for it, but you click on whatever- Instagram, X, my kids are on TikTok, whatever- and there’s something on there that’s being said negative about their dad that they may not even be looking for it, but it’s just out there. So I know I gave you a long answer there, but that’s the biggest difference, Phil, is just, it’s everywhere and it’s nonstop and people don’t have to say something to your face or call your home phone anymore. They just put something on social media, and it may be them, and they own it, or it might just be hiding behind a screen name, and that’s what’s different. But, like I said, I’m blessed to be here and blessed to have a place where fans are passionate, and I accept the criticism. I mean, we were two and three and deserve to get criticized. I get it, but it’s tough on families, and I dealt with it when I was growing up, like I said, but just in a little bit different way than my kids are right now.

Question:

Last year there was a decent amount of talk about the offensive line struggles, and as you get six games into this year with sacks being down and consistently generally up across the board with that group, I’m just curious as you head into the bye week, how would you evaluate that position group and are they exceeding expectations, meeting them? Just what are your thoughts?

Beamer:

Yeah, I haven’t seen the stats this week, but wherever we are rushing-wise, I know going into last week, I’m not used to looking at the SEC rushing offense stats and seeing South Carolina at the top. And that’s what we want. That’s the expectation. So, through five games. I think they’ve been really, really awesome. I would say exceeding expectations in the sense that I don’t know if I felt we would be leading the SEC in rushing right now or going into last night, but that’s awesome that we are. Certainly a lot to clean up from yesterday. We turned some guys free in the run game and didn’t have one of our better games overall, in my opinion. But where they are right now, starting a true freshman, a left tackle that wasn’t able to play until the third game this season, coming off an injury, and then having new guys up front at center and guard. The connection that they’ve shown so far right now, I think is really, really good and excited to see them continue to develop as the rest of the year goes on. And then we’ve got depth there too, which I think is different. You know, the fact that we started Boo yesterday at left guard, Shed Sarratt came in and played a lot of football. We got Dane Arnett, Hank Purvis, all those guys; we feel like we’ve got multiple starters on the offensive line, and we’ve got depth in there where we can spell some guys in and rotate them in and out.

Question:

I’m going to hit you with two quick ones. DeMarcus Leach, how did you feel like he played yesterday in some real extended action? And also just wanted to check to clarify with Dylan, his snap count is still a little bit lower because he’s still working back from a conditioning standpoint, right? Y’all envision him eventually getting up to 40 or 50 snaps a game?

Beamer:

DeMarcus, I thought was really good, John. You know, we need that. We need to be able to play more than two corners. Judge and Vicari have basically been playing every snap. And we need to develop more corners, whether it be DeMarcus, whether it be Ethan Johnson, Kosci (Barnes), Jalewis Solomon. We’ve got to have some other guys come along. And I thought DeMarcus came in and did a nice job. I thought Clayton did a great job of calling the game and not always asking any of our corners to be out there on an island the entire time, but being able to give them some help coverage-wise, whether it be zone or help over the top. A couple things, DeMarcus: technique-wise, we need to play a little bit better overall, but from an assignment standpoint, he was good, and he did a good job. Dylan’s snap count, I think it’s more just from a conditioning standpoint. Honestly, John, we didn’t talk last week at all about we need to keep him under X number of plays. We certainly want to rotate guys in and keep them fresh. And we had a plan going into the game of being able to rotate George, Caleb, Ant, and Dylan- those four going into the game and then having guys behind them that can give us some depth if we need to. Quay Dodd, Drew Collins, whoever. So those guys we went into the game; that was kind of our four-man rotation. And it wasn’t, let’s keep Dylan at a snap count and let’s just rotate these guys in, and certainly his conditioning is going to continue to get better, but we don’t have a ceiling on where he is right now. In our minds, it’s full go.

Question:

Now that we’re at the halfway point of the season, what impact would you say Kendal’s had on this offense and this team?

Beamer:

A lot. I would have told you that before the season even started, Jordan, just the confidence and the swagger that the whole team had in the offense because of it. Our defensive players talking about our offense throughout spring practice and going against it. And then throughout preseason camp. I mean, I think everybody in the program felt that and sensed that we had some really good offensive coaches and a system that we believe in that we were going to have success with. But then to be able to see it happen in SEC games and putting up points like we are right now, certainly really pleased with where we are; need to be better. But when the defense gets three takeaways like they did yesterday, that gives your offense opportunities to really capitalize and score points. So we’ve got to continue to play complementary football, offense, defense and special teams, but really, fired up about Kendal and what he’s brought to the offense and just the person he is too, Jordan. I mean, I talked in the press conference yesterday about guys that you want in that foxhole with you, and he’s certainly one of them, man. Like he’s a team guy, and the dynamic in that offensive staff room with his leadership is better than it’s ever been.

Question:

Hey, Shane, with the third downs, I know you were asked about it yesterday, but now getting a chance to look back at everything, how much satisfaction is there that you guys go 10 of 16 on third downs? And not just that, but also converting on some third downs where it’s like third and long for you guys?

Beamer:

Yeah, that’s huge. I think one of the huge plays in the game was in the first quarter, I guess. First or second quarter, we had third and forever, and we tried to get them to jump all sides. They did jump, and then we got it to go from, I think it was like third and 16 to third and 11. And then we converted that third and 11. Like, that was a huge play in the game, in my opinion or a sequence in the game. But yeah, to be third-and-long yardage in this league is an absolute nightmare because you’re blocking first-round draft picks on opposing defenses every week. And 0 and 99 for Florida, I mean, those guys can rush the passer. And that was a really good front four that we faced yesterday. And to be able to line up and convert on 3rd down, whether it be throwing, running, I think we hit the screen pass to Jabri, I think on that third down that I’m referring to Jack, but whether it be the screen game, the drop back pass game, the run game, whatever it might be, to be able to convert on 3rd down period in this league is an accomplishment, but to be able to do that many, to do it that many times on the road with a loud crowd is really a testament to our team and offense and something that we’ve got to continue to be able to do.

Question:

Hey, Shane, you mentioned Kendal. Just what kind of guy is he around the office? Kind of quiet? Does he pop his head in your office all the time? How is he during staff meetings? How is he kind of the guy that we don’t get to see?

Beamer:

Total team guy, David. That’s what I love about him. He is a team guy. He’s not one of those offensive coordinators in his offensive world and only worried about scoring points and whatever. Like, he’s a team guy, and that’s what I love about him. Great person, great family. He’s got an energy and a consistency and a confidence to himself that I really like. Super person, fun to be around. Yes, he’ll pop his head in my office. Just like I said, total team guy, and he’ll pop his head in my office at just the right time, whether it be to convey a message to me or ask a question. And I just think I mentioned the offensive staff dynamic better than it’s ever been. I just feel like the staff dynamic is too in so many ways. On Monday and Tuesday nights, I always meet with Kendall and Clayton, where we go in the staff room, and it’s just the three of us, and we just kind of talk about, on Mondays, it’s an intro to the opponent and 1st and 2nd down game plans and what we think and how we’re going to go win the football game on Saturday. And then on Tuesday nights, we do the same thing at 8 o’clock. It’s just me, Kendall, and Clayton in there. And on Tuesday nights, we’re talking about 3rd down and red zone. I want to hear what the offensive plan is, the defensive plan is, what they’re thinking on 3rd down. Both coaches being in there so they can kind of hear what’s going on the other side of the ball. And so we’re developing a plan of how we’re going to play this game and how we’re going to call the game throughout the week. And my point is, I’ve done that ever since I’ve been the head coach here, but there have been some years where they know the meetings are at 8 o’clock, at 7.59 and 59 seconds, they’re coming in that room, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator. But with Kendal and Clayton, they’re usually in there well before I come in there because they enjoy being around each other. They enjoy learning from one another. They enjoy talking about just football and life. And Kennel and Clayton are living in the same neighborhood here in Columbia. And he’s just about the right stuff. And I can say that about a lot of the guys on our coaching staff right now too, David. It’s a good group. And I told our team yesterday, and I said in the press conference yesterday, it was a program win in so many ways. And it was, and the people that we have in our program were on full display yesterday.