Tag: Noland

CELEBRATION, Fla. – South Carolina coach Shane Beamer met with reporters on Friday afternoon, after the team wrapped up its first full practice at Celebration High School.

There were a handful of pertinent topics for Beamer to discuss, including offensive coordinator Mike Shula, center Vershon Lee and incoming transfer quarterback Air Noland.

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It’s final: Shula will call plays for South Carolina against Illinois on Dec. 31. Dowell Loggains, who spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator, is now the head coach at Appalachian State.

Because Loggains was away for the team for so long, Beamer decided to move forward with Shula calling plays. Shula, of course, has already been hired as the team’s offensive coordinator for the 2025 season.

“Dowell is not with us. He won’t be with us. Mike is the offensive coordinator and will be calling everything in the game. … I just felt like the longer it went, the more Dowell was away from Columbia, the less beneficial it was for both sides to call (the game),” Beamer said. “Ever since we found out we were playing Illinois, coach Shula and the rest of the offensive staff has been putting the game plan together. Dowell hasn’t been in Columbia.”

Beamer added, “(Shula) has had a month to go back in the archives,” Beamer said. “Illinois can look at mid-2000’s Alabama offense. They can look at the Cam Newton Carolina Panthers offense. There’s about one thing a day where I got to go to him and ask, ‘What is this? I don’t know what this word means.’ And it’s something they’ve put in. He’s taken it and run. He and the rest of the staff will do a great job with it.”

On Lee…

“Vershon is fine. He’s a little under the weather. Just felt like it was best to just keep him the heck away from everybody else, so he has been in his own room at the hotel. He rode over here separately,” Beamer said. “I asked him if he’d ever heard of the Michael Jordan flu game versus the Jazz. He’s a basketball guy and said he had.  But he’ll be fine. He just woke up today and did not feel well, so we just thought it was best to keep him away from everybody. But he’ll be fine for game day.”

On Noland…

“Didn’t promise Air anything but the opportunity to compete. Didn’t promise him the backup job. Nothing,” Beamer said. “He saw a situation where he saw an opportunity to learn under LaNorris (Sellers) and also learn under coach Shula. Mike Shula, I don’t mean to speak for Air, but he was a big attraction to him, coach Shula’s background. I did not know Air. Obviously, knew of him coming out of high school. Did not know him personally. Was really impressed with he and his family when they were down (in Columbia) last weekend. He spent two days with us and walked around with a notebook, literally took notes on every single thing we were talking to him about, so he’s very mature and very professional.”

In October, Beamer said the staff notified Cutter Woods there was a chance they would sign two high school quarterbacks in the 2025 recruiting class.

“It didn’t quite work out. There were some guys who wanted to come in the end, but we just didn’t feel like they were a great fit for us,” Beamer said.