Shane Beamer took a seat Monday on the SEC Network set next to Paul Finebaum, about 30 minutes after the South Carolina coach wrapped up his address in the main media room of the Wynfrey Hotel.
The TV host and ESPN Radio personality referred to Beamer as “a man that’s been the talk of the day” after the coach’s SEC Media Days debut was largely met with positive reviews.
The State followed up with Finebaum on Tuesday to get his take on Beamer and the Gamecocks.
Ben Portnoy: When you heard Shane Beamer was going to be South Carolina’s hire, what was your first thought?
Paul Finebaum: “I’ll spare you the usual first impression cliches — you don’t win a game at Media Days, but you can lose big. Jeremy Pruitt came here a couple years ago and acted like he wanted to be somewhere else, and it’s a bad tone to set. The people in that room are important. The public can hate the media all they want, but an impression is hard to undo. If you come here and make a good impression, an average impression, it’s OK. You make a bad impression, people remember it, and if you make a great impression, people remember. Shane Beamer made a spectacular impression. People loved him.
I wasn’t surprised because I felt the same way the day he was introduced. We interviewed him on the air and I thought, ‘This guy is great.’ Now, I thought some guys that were (great) never won a game. He’s hard to to find fault with. He’s a likable guy. I swear when I was sitting with him (Monday — I know this is cliche to say — but I kind of saw his father for a second. And everyone loves Frank Beamer. He had an amazing day.”
BP: A number of people got their first real introduction to Shane Beamer during his address. How do you think he handled it and how important are first impressions like that?
Finebaum: “I started hearing the story and it did kind of surprise me, because it felt like we know Shane Beamer. He was here during the good days which occurred. I felt like I’d seen the movie where the wrong people make the choice and we still don’t know that isn’t the case. But what he did, though, was made the most.
I don’t want to break any bad news to all my friends in South Carolina — (the roster) is not very good. I ran into a former South Carolina player you would recognize a couple of months ago and he had been to practice and he was in shock. He wanted to know what happened. That was a couple months ago and the roster is better today. I guess in other words, I certainly don’t think they’re gonna be that great on the field.”
BP: From the outside, what are your thoughts on South Carolina and what they face in 2021?
Finebaum: “The good news is the schedule fairly manageable. It’s July so you can always make an argument. You could say, well, do this and that. I think steady improvement is critical. Is a bowl game possible? A bowl game is possible if a couple teams are really not as good as we thought, but it’s hard to fathom that really with the first (year). I remember the first time I saw the schedule pop up — it’s not a bad schedule.
I think it’s about recruiting. If he can continue to generate excitement in recruiting, he’ll be fine regardless of what it looks like on the field. But he has to do it pretty quickly. He just can’t let, within the league, everyone continue to move ahead of you and he especially can’t let Clemson just to make you into a piñata.”
BP: What does success look like under Shane Beamer in Year 1 in Columbia?
Paul Finebaum: “I think for a new coach, success is always winning a game you’re not supposed to. … I think other than Vanderbilt, you beat Missouri, you beat Tennessee, you beat Kentucky — you have to concentrate on those games. I mean, I talk to South Carolina fans all the time (and they say), ‘We’re going to beat Florida.’ Calm down. To me the SEC East is, beat the worst teams — which South Carolina is one of — try to try to steal a game against a middle-of-the-packer and don’t think you’re going back into Athens any time soon and pulling that upset.
And I’ll tell you another thing, I think success at South Carolina under Shane Beamer is (attainable). I keep hearing from South Carolina fans that I was wrong when I picked Alabama in 2010. There has to be something else. I’m kidding — and I know Spurrier won some big games after that, but I still hear that more than anything else.
— Finebaum’s show launched on ESPN Radio in August 2013.