Shane Beamer, Georgia's tight ends and special teams coach the past two seasons under Kirby Smart, reportedly is leaving to become an offensive assistant at Oklahoma.
Beamer is expected to receive the title of assistant head coach and have a focus on tight ends and H-backs for Lincoln Riley's Sooners, whom Georgia defeated 54-48 in double overtime in the Rose Bowl national semifinal on New Year's Day. ESPN was the first to report Beamer's departure, but neither Georgia nor Oklahoma had confirmed the move as of Monday evening.
The 40-year-old son of legendary Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer experienced mixed results during his first season in Athens in 2016, when tight end Isaac Nauta and kicker Rodrigo Blankenship earned Freshman All-SEC honors and Isaiah McKenzie averaged 10.7 yards on punt returns. Yet there were difficult games for the special-teams units, most notably in the 17-16 home loss to Vanderbilt.
This past season, however, Georgia's special teams flourished, with Blankenship making 20 of 23 field-goal attempts and graduate transfer punter Cameron Nizialek averaging 45.0 yards per attempt. Blankenship also had 67 of his 94 kickoffs result in touchbacks.
Sophomore receiver Mecole Hardman led the Southeastern Conference this past season in punt returns with a 11.8-yard average and was second in kickoff returns with a 25.3-yard average.
Beamer, a Virginia Tech graduate who received his master's degree at Tennessee, came to Georgia after spending the 2011-15 seasons as Virginia Tech's running backs coach.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.