Shane Beamer, James Coley Discuss How They Formed Bond At Georgia
On Friday afternoon, Shane Beamer gave all of Gamecock nation the opportunity to see both of South Carolina's new assistant football coaches, wide receivers coach James Coley and running backs coach Marquel Blackwell, with the both of them speaking to the media for the first time since being hired this month. Both coaches were a part of Jimbo Fisher's staff at Texas A&M in 2023, but weren't retained by Fisher's successor Mike Elko.
Coley in particular, coached alongside Beamer at Georgia from 2016-17, serving as the Bulldogs' wide receivers coach while Shane coached the team's tight ends. That period of time was when the two began to build a relationship due to how their two position groups were interlinked with each other.
"[I worked with] James in the passing game because our tight ends were involved in the passing game. We worked closely together," Beamer recalled. "I was the Special Teams Coordinator, [and] he was very involved with our special teams as well. Our offices were right next to each other, so spent a lot of time with him just because we were kinda the two guys down there at the end of the hallway away from everybody."
James was asked about his recollection of Shane from his time in Athens once he stepped up to the podium later in the press conference, and as he answered the question, it was clear that the 26-year coaching veteran was fond of the idea of reuniting with his friend.
"From the first day at Georgia, you saw a guy who's driven and had all the qualities that [made me sit] there and [say] 'That guy's gonna be a head coach pretty soon.' [Shane's] organized, [and] passionate about the players, always about the players first," Coley exclaimed. "You sit in a staff meeting for hours with a group of guys and you get to know who they are and really find out who they are behind the scenes, so when these opportunities come about, for lack of a better term, it's a no-brainer."
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