Shane Beamer, the son of legendary Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer, was named Tuesday to Kirby Smart's inaugural staff at Georgia.
Beamer will coach tight ends and coordinate special teams for the Bulldogs, who never had a special-teams coordinator under former coach Mark Richt. Former tight ends coach John Lilly and former inside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler split special-teams responsibilities this past season, and former defensive ends coach Jon Fabris handled five of the six special-teams chores during games a decade ago.
A receiver and long-snapper for Virginia Tech from 1995 to 1999, Beamer began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech in 2000 and spent the next three seasons as a graduate assistant at Tennessee. He became a full-time assistant at Mississippi State from 2004 to 2006 before being lured by Steve Spurrier to South Carolina, where he coached from 2007 to 2010.
Beamer returned to his alma mater in 2011 and worked the past five seasons for his father, coaching running backs and earning the title of associate head coach. During the 2013 season, Hokies running backs did not fumble once in 350 carries.
The elder Beamer coached the Hokies from 1987 to this season, recording a 238-121-2 record that included eight consecutive 10-win seasons starting in 2004.
Georgia now has its offensive staff set under Smart with Jim Chaney (coordinator and quarterbacks), Sam Pittman (line), Dell McGee (running backs), James Coley (receivers) and Beamer (tight ends). The defensive staff consists of Tracy Rocker, Kevin Sherrer and Glen Schumann, but their assignments have not been designated as of yet.
Smart has one more hire to make. He has yet to announce his defensive coordinator.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.