South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer is no stranger to ESPN’s “College GameDay”.
The show visited Virginia Tech’s campus twice during Beamer’s senior year of college in 1999 – once when the Hokies took on Syracuse, and again in a matchup against Miami.
“I remember what a huge deal that was that ‘GameDay’ is coming to Virginia Tech,” Beamer said.
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Twenty-five years later, Beamer will get his first opportunity to experience the atmosphere surrounding “College GameDay” in Columbia, as the show will make its return to the city for the first time in a decade on Saturday. He, as well as South Carolina players from all three phases of the team’s roster, discussed what the show has meant to them during their football careers and personal lives.
Beamer is well-connected in the college football world, dating back to when his father, Frank, coached at Virginia Tech. Because of this, he has developed close relationships with the “College GameDay” crew during his coaching career.
“Over the years, getting to know Kirk Herbstreit on a personal level, and getting to know Chris Fowler and Rece Davis now – and Pat McAfee in the last couple years – has been cool,” Beamer said. “Certainly, I’m a fan whenever we’re in the hotel on game days, home or away. I’m watching it whenever we’re not in meetings or eating or whatever we do as a team because I’m just a college football fan.”
Numerous players, once young college football fans themselves, also discovered the cultural significance of “College GameDay” at an early age.
Jalon Kilgore said he frequently watched “College GameDay” with his older brother, Gerald Kilgore , when the pair grew up.
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“It was just always so exciting just to watch. Just the atmosphere, just seeing all the fans and things, ready for the game,” Kilgore said. “It’s amazing that I’m going to be able to play in that atmosphere.”
Like the Kilgores, LaNorris Sellers watched “College GameDay” each Saturday morning with his family, too. Though this is just his second year with the Gamecocks, Sellers also had an opportunity to experience a “College GameDay” last season. The show broadcasted live from Charlotte ahead of the 2023 Duke’s Mayo Classic between South Carolina and North Carolina.
“Pretty much every ‘GameDay’ game we probably watched, just because it’s always probably the best game,” Sellers said. “I just remember the game last year very vividly, when we played Chapel Hill, I think. It was excitement. It was a lot of people, but that’s really it.”
Other players, like Michael Smith and Kai Kroeger , waited until much later to embrace the show. Smith said he didn’t watch the show until around five or six years ago.
“My dad was a Florida fan. That wasn’t really often,” Smith said. “In the past couple years, since LSU – like, Joe Burrow LSU – that’s when I’ve started watching it a lot.”
Kroeger said he also didn’t start watching it until he committed to the Gamecocks in 2020.
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“I was always an NFL fan growing up. I pretty much never watched college football, so when I got to college going on four years ago, it’s kind of when I started watching it,” Kroeger said. “But I love watching it. Obviously, Pat McAfee, being a punter, I love watching him and seeing his antics.”
While each member of the South Carolina football team has their own unique relationship with “College GameDay”, all of them – and Beamer, in particular – are on a mission to make Columbia a repeat host site for the show.
“I remember we were working that Sunday, and ran in the Subway over here on Assembly Street for lunch, and my wife telling me that it had just been announced that “GameDay” was coming for the Alabama game six days later and how exciting that was,” Beamer said. “It’s the same feeling now as a head coach… Now, we need to make sure they walk out of here saying that’s a place we need to come back to.”
Beamer knows that producing an electric atmosphere is an important factor in bringing “College GameDay” back to the city. But it will also prove beneficial for the Gamecocks, who are looking to upset LSU and improve their record to 3-0.
“I would encourage everyone – please, please, please get here early. We know traffic will be wild, to say the least, with everybody coming in for ‘GameDay’ and a noon kickoff. Leave in plenty of time because we need pregame, we need ‘GameDay’, we need the kickoff, 2001, all of that. We don’t need people filtering in because of traffic,” Beamer said. “So, get up here early, start tailgating at 6 a.m., whatever you got to do so you’re in here and you’re ready to go because this place needs to be rocking on Saturday.”
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