Throughout its history, American football has followed the basic belief that offense is for scoring, defense is for preventing an opponent from scoring and teams kick the ball away on 4th down. That was until Beamer Ball came around.
Beamer Ball is a style of play that emphasizes special teams and aggressive playcalling. South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer has integrated this brand of football into the program since his 2021 arrival, adding to the legacy of his Hall of Fame father, Frank Beamer.
The term “Beamer Ball” was coined during Frank Beamer’s tenure as head coach at Virginia Tech. He appointed himself special teams coordinator and drilled his players on faking and blocking punts, forcing turnovers, and creating opportunities to score at any moment.
To describe Beamer Ball, he said, “Whatever team is on the field, we’ve got a chance to get points and I loved that.”
In 29 seasons as the Hokies’ head coach, Beamer’s teams blocked 136 kicks. This number helped Beamer lead Virginia Tech to 23 bowl game appearances.
At the end of the 2015 season, Frank Beamer announced he was retiring from coaching, leaving college football fans believing that Beamer Ball was ending.
Six seasons later, Frank Beamer’s son Shane Beamer accepted the head coaching job at South Carolina — his first time heading a program — and brought his father’s iconic philosophy with him.
“What I learned from my dad was the importance of special teams,” Shane Beamer said. “We do [put emphasis on special teams] at South Carolina in the meeting time and the time on the field.”
Shane Beamer started coaching in 2004 at Mississippi State and gained experience as an assistant coach for several other prominent schools.
He’s no stranger to wearing garnet. From 2007-2010, he was an assistant coach at South Carolina under legendary head coach Steve Spurrier, and he spent most of his time working with the defense and special teams.
In 2009, Beamer helped coach the second-best passing defense in the SEC, and his special teams unit blocked five punts.
The biggest highlight of his first stint in Columbia was when South Carolina upset then-top-ranked Alabama in 2010.
Now, as the head coach of the Gamecocks, Beamer has used this strategy to defeat national championship-winning coaches like Mack Brown, Jimbo Fisher and Dabo Swinney.
“Everybody thinks of it from a special teams standpoint and I believe that’s where it starts absolutely when you talk about Beamer Ball,” Beamer said. “But to me, it’s just overall the way you play football and the attacking way you want to play.”
Alabama special teams have to stay alert. At any given moment, South Carolina can dial up a fake punt on 4th down with punter Kai Kroeger, who has completed seven passes for three touchdowns in his career.
On top of that, Kroeger has one of the strongest legs in college football and was selected as the Week 2 SEC Special Teams Player of the Week. The power and accuracy of his punts allow South Carolina to flip the field on opponents by forcing them to start drives in unfavorable field position.
Against Alabama, South Carolina will send the house to try and block punts and field goals, but that will be a difficult task because the Crimson Tide special teams have not allowed a block this season.
Fans have already seen flashes of Beamer Ball this season. The Gamecocks blocked a punt against LSU, leading to a next-play touchdown from South Carolina’s offense.
These calculated risks do not always play out in Beamer’s favor, however. In last week’s matchup against Ole Miss, the Gamecocks failed on a fake punt inside their own territory.
Regardless of what analytics say, Beamer remains aggressive in every aspect of the game.
Alabama will get its chance to take on South Carolina’s Beamer Ball Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
