Between recruiting, his off-the-field responsibilities, his familial duties and now training camp, Shane Beamer doesn’t get to watch much TV.

But, when he does, there is a healthy stash of college football games on DVR calling his name.

Beamer doesn’t sit down and enjoy them as a casual fan but, instead, as a first-time head coach who hasn’t yet made a crucial decision in an SEC game uses those logs of film more as a mental rep than any these.

“I would record it, watch it and put myself in that situation. OK, I’m the head coach, how would I handle that situation? I’m thinking about the clock. I’m trying to do as much of that as I can,” Shane Beamer said. “A lot of it for me is paying attention to the clock and understanding how important two minute situations are.”

Also see: More notes from practice No. 1 with defensive scoop

Beamer, who hasn’t yet been an offensive or defensive coordinator in college football, much less a head coach, which means he hasn’t gone through a season yet where he’s been tasked with making the ultimate decisions in a game.

As an assistant at Virginia Tech and Oklahoma he had some input on decisions, even serving as interim head coach for a bowl game win in 2014, but hasn’t decided whether or not to go for it on a fourth down or kick a field goal or when to call a timeout or not in a regular season game, which is why those DVR’d games are helpful to him.

The Gamecocks also have staffers where one of the biggest parts of their job break down clock management situations from across college and professional football for Beamer and the rest of the coaching staff to break down.

The coaching staff, led by Beamer, put themselves in situations during practice and scrimmages to give players the experience in those spots but also allow the coaches to practice as well with Beamer leading the charge.

“We’ll continue to do more as we go through preseason, talking with the players and putting themselves in situations in practice, simulating situations in practice where I have to be the head coach and make those decisions,” Beamer said. “I try to do as much of that as I can and put myself in situations.”

Also see: Insider notes from South Carolina's first training camp practice

They did the same thing in the spring during scrimmages and Beamer left a good impression for his decision-making acumen.

Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said Beamer is always “two plays ahead” in his decision making process and his background in special teams is only going to help him.

“The cool thing about coach Beamer in how he’s grown up and the coaches he’s worked for, he may have never been totally in charge of making those decisions but he’s been on the headsets and been in some really big games and really historical games where clock management was crucial,” Satterfield said. “He’s so far along in his progression as a head coach in his first year that won’t be an issue.”

Beamer still has about a month to put himself in those situations before those decisions are in games that count, but he already knows for the most part what kind of coach he wants to be while making the calls.

Also see: More from Media Day on special teams, depth, more as camp starts

“Here at South Carolina we want to be aggressive and give ourselves a chance to win football games but also understanding the flow of the game and how your offense is playing versus how your defense is playing, how you’re doing on special teams, who you’re playing, how they’re playing,” Beamer said.

“There are a lot of factors that go into that. I want to be aggressive. I always have been and always will be. I’m not one of those guys who likes to sit back and wait for things to happen. We want to go make them happen."

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