South Carolina coach Shane Beamer was trending Tuesday on Twitter. TikTok and Instagram, too.
Before departing Columbia for SEC Media Days, Beamer and some of his players made a video clip recorded over the rapper Soulja Boy’s song “Turn My Swag On.” Lip-syncing to that tune has become a growing social-media trend across several digital platforms.
These days, Beamer is all about going viral. So, when asked by Gamecocks’ creative-media director Justin King if he’d be willing to join the movement and maybe produce a little viral content in celebration of the unofficial start to the 2022 football season, Beamer said, “Let’s do it!”
By the time the South Carolina contingent arrived in Atlanta via private charter for their afternoon turn at College Football Hall of Fame, Beamer was going viral.
“I told Commissioner Sankey I was disappointed we didn’t have Soulja Boy as a walk-up song when I came up here,” Beamer cracked after being introduced by the SEC’s Greg Sankey.
The Soulja Boy deal is only the latest social-media antic in which Beamer has taken part. Getting a gallon bucket of Duke’s Mayo poured over his head – and getting thwacked in the process – after beating North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in December probably was the last gag that came as close trending as much as Tuesday morning’s elaborate production did. Last year at media days in Hoover, Ala., Beamer parodied a 2013 photo of former South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier getting a drink at Arby’s following media days that year.
The latest bit was much more elaborate, requiring three takes.
“That came together very quickly,” Beamer said. “… Had a lot of fun doing it as well. I was a little taken aback because one of our players thought I needed to hear the song so I I knew what the words were. I’m not that old; I know who Soulja Boy is. I know some of the words to that song. It was an easy ask.”
Beamer and the Gamecocks have been having a blast since wrapping up a 7-6 season in his first season as head coach. That represented a five-game improvement over the previous season.
The challenge now is keeping the momentum. That’s going to take more than pranks.
Having a good quarterback can help. The Gamecocks feel like they have one in Oklahoma transfer Spencer Rattler. Despite his problems in Norman, the 6-foot-1 junior is expected to be a marked improvement over Luke Doty and graduate-assistant-coach-turned-starter Zeb Noland.
South Carolina has turned to the portal a lot, welcoming running back transfers from Georgia (Lovasea Carroll) and Wake Forest (Christian Beal-Smith). Trying to improve an offense that ranked in the 100s nationally in almost every category is a priority.
But if Beamer has proved anything in his year-plus on the job, it’s that he knows how to have fun while doing his job. And fans and recruits seem to be buying in. Beamer reported the program’s season-ticket renewal rate for this season was its highest in 10 years. The Gamecocks finished 25th nationally in recruiting last year and currently are 32nd for 2023 after coming in an unacceptable 79th in 2021.
Viral videos can’t hurt.
“Anytime we get the opportunity to showcase our program, we want to,” Beamer said Tuesday. “There’s also got to be some joy with what you do. This game’s hard enough. We want our guys to have fun. I want this to be a program that when our players wake up each morning, they look forward to coming into our football facility each day. I don’t know if that was always the case before.”
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