ATHENS, Ga. — In December 2015, Kirby Smart was defensive coordinator at Alabama as well as Georgia’s newly appointed head coach when he hired Shane Beamer to join the Bulldogs’ staff as tight ends coach.
Beamer had a pretty good job at the time. He was serving as assistant head coach, running backs coach and as one of the lead recruiters for his father, Frank Beamer, at Virginia Tech. But Frank Beamer announced in early November he was retiring at season’s end, and with no clear prospects for remaining in Blacksburg, Shane Beamer found himself on the market.
“I’d known him for a long time,” said Smart, who owns a house on Lake Oconee near the Beamers and had played golf with them there. “He was interested in coming, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to jump into (the) SEC and be part of our program, and he did.”
