South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer and ESPN reporter Kris Budden Credit: ESPN
By Drew Lerner on

Most college football coaches act like they’re allergic to in-game interviews. Not South Carolina coach Shane Beamer.

As the Gamecocks opened their season against the Virginia Tech Hokies, where Beamer’s father Frank coached for nearly three decades, the younger Beamer put the family’s affable reputation on display. College football fans, of course, know Frank Beamer’s Hall of Fame career was partly solidified on the back of his special teams prowess. His patented “Beamer Ball” was a staple of Hokies teams throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.

And on Sunday, Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks flipped the Beamer Ball script on the Hokies. With just a two-point gap separating the two sides amid a defensive slug fest in the fourth quarter, Beamer made a key decision that helped lift South Carolina to victory. The Hokies punted the ball away from their own half of the field during a seemingly ho-hum sequence, but an illegal formation penalty gave Beamer the option to tack on five yards to the end of the punt, or have the Hokies re-kick.

Despite the punt being pretty average — not field-flipping by any means — Beamer opted for the re-kick. And, well, the rest is history. South Carolina’s Vicari Swain took the punt to the house, giving the Gamecocks a two-score lead in the blink of an eye.

After the ensuing commercial break, the ESPN broadcast returned with an interesting anecdote from sideline reporter Kris Budden. During the break, Beamer had actually pulled Budden aside to explain exactly how he felt about the special teams sequence in the context of his father’s reputation.

“[Shane Beamer] came up to me; he said, ‘Kris, that was so fitting. There were so many games in my father’s career where the offense stunk it up for most of the game, and then the special teams comes and saves the day.’ You think this game means a little something extra to Shane Beamer?”

It’s not everyday you see a coach actively take time out of the game to speak with a sideline reporter unless, of course, it’s a required interview in between quarters or halves. But Beamer did so in a way that truly added to the broadcast. It’s exactly what sideline reporters dream of whenever they get to talk with a coach during a game.

Unfortunately, it’s generally the exception and not the rule.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.

View all posts by Drew Lerner