South Carolina’s Shane Beamer worked for Phillip Fulmer at Tennessee and 25 years later he still thinks the UT coach was an ‘animal’
South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer served as a graduate assistant on Rocky Top under Tennessee Vols head coach Phillip Fulmer for three seasons in the early 2000s.
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer spent three seasons in the early 2000s as a Tennessee Vols graduate assistant under Phillip Fulmer.
Beamer, who was a wide receiver at Virginia Tech before getting into coaching, earned a master’s degree from Tennessee in 2003.
But despite having a Tennessee degree on his resume, Beamer isn’t very popular among Vols fans — something he’s well-aware of.
“Most fan bases probably don’t like me,” said Beamer last fall. “I mean, that’s just natural….I think there’s a handful, from talking to Tennessee buddies, of Tennessee people that don’t like me because of, you know, the 2022 game.”
Still, those three seasons as a graduate assistant at Tennessee under Fulmer from 2001 to 2003 are a big part of who Beamer is as a coach.
Shane Beamer shares what he learned from Phillip Fulmer at Tennessee
Beamer recently joined 1801 Media for a lengthy sitdown interview and he spoke about his coaching journey.
During the conversation, Beamer spoke on the biggest thing he learned from his time on Fulmer’s coaching staff — the relentless work ethic it takes to be successful on the recruiting trail.
Beamer described Fulmer as an “animal” from a recruiting standpoint.
“At Tennessee, I was a graduate assistant there working for Phillip Fulmer,” said Beamer.
“I really learned from him just the importance of recruiting. He was the head coach, but I mean, he was an animal from a recruiting standpoint. Tennessee was at a place, and at the time especially, where they had to recruit nationally. We were in California, Texas, Hawaii. He just had a great work ethic, and that was a great thing for me.”
Beamer may not be a popular guy on Rocky Top, but Tennessee is a big part of who he is as a coach today.