(Friday morning coaches search update for December 4th)
Last week and earlier this week, Shane Beamer looked like a near lock for the job, and he might eventually be the guy. According to sources, Beamer was feeling the same way coming off his five-hour interview with Ray Tanner and began to make contacts with potential staffers. Sources said Beamer has not made money an issue. This has been his dream job and he wants to come to Columbia and build a long-lasting program. His greatest obstacle at this point is he’s never been a head coach, and university president Bob Caslen is pushing for someone with head coaching experience. And as a source reinforced to us tonight, Caslen will be making the final decision.
Which brings us to Billy Napier. He’s completing his third season as head coach at Louisiana and has won his Sun Belt division each year. He has “Head Coach” on his resume, and that’s a big deal to Caslen. According to a source, in his Zoom session with Tanner and Caslen at the start of the search, Napier expressed his desire that more money be spent on positions in the football office related to recruiting and other administrative roles. Napier, of course, spent five years on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama, so he has a blueprint on how the recruiting operation runs there. In fact, if he’s hired at USC, it’s possible Napier would tap into Alabama’s football office for some personnel. Last Saturday night, a source told us USC was not going to give Napier what he wanted, and that was not acceptable from Napier’s standpoint. At that point, Napier’s positioning in the search seem to drop. Since then, three different sources have told us Beamer was the frontrunner, though there would be more interviews this week. And Napier will get one of those Saturday a source confirmed Friday afternoon, despite what went down in that earlier Zoom session. USC also is planning to interview Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield, Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson.
Last week and earlier this week, Shane Beamer looked like a near lock for the job, and he might eventually be the guy. According to sources, Beamer was feeling the same way coming off his five-hour interview with Ray Tanner and began to make contacts with potential staffers. Sources said Beamer has not made money an issue. This has been his dream job and he wants to come to Columbia and build a long-lasting program. His greatest obstacle at this point is he’s never been a head coach, and university president Bob Caslen is pushing for someone with head coaching experience. And as a source reinforced to us tonight, Caslen will be making the final decision.
Which brings us to Billy Napier. He’s completing his third season as head coach at Louisiana and has won his Sun Belt division each year. He has “Head Coach” on his resume, and that’s a big deal to Caslen. According to a source, in his Zoom session with Tanner and Caslen at the start of the search, Napier expressed his desire that more money be spent on positions in the football office related to recruiting and other administrative roles. Napier, of course, spent five years on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama, so he has a blueprint on how the recruiting operation runs there. In fact, if he’s hired at USC, it’s possible Napier would tap into Alabama’s football office for some personnel. Last Saturday night, a source told us USC was not going to give Napier what he wanted, and that was not acceptable from Napier’s standpoint. At that point, Napier’s positioning in the search seem to drop. Since then, three different sources have told us Beamer was the frontrunner, though there would be more interviews this week. And Napier will get one of those Saturday a source confirmed Friday afternoon, despite what went down in that earlier Zoom session. USC also is planning to interview Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield, Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson.
