When Dowell Loggains left South Carolina’s offensive coordinator job, Shane Beamer didn’t look far for his replacement. The Gamecock head coach promoted former Alabama football coach Mike Shula, keeping continuity for sophomore quarterback LaNorris Sellers.

Speaking Monday at SEC media days in Atlanta, Beamer gave Shula a glowing review.

“That was an easy decision for me to promote Mike to be the coordinator,” Beamer said. “He was a part of our program last year. He’s literally been in the shoes LaNorris is in, as he was a starting quarterback in this conference, and he’s been in the shoes that I’m in, as a head coach in this conference as well. He’s already made us better as an offense, on and off the field.”

Shula, who was Alabama’s starting quarterback from 1984-1986, served as the Crimson Tide’s head coach from 2003-2006. He was fired after four seasons, making way for Nick Saban’s hire in Tuscaloosa.

After his firing, Shula headed to the NFL coaching ranks. He returned to the college game in 2024, as a senior offensive assistant for the Gamecocks.

Shula made his first football-related return to Tuscaloosa last season. He and the Gamecocks fell by a narrow margin at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Ahead of that game, Beamer raved about Shula’s presence.

“(Shula) had worked with Cam Newton in Carolina and then he had worked with Josh Allen most recently with the Buffalo Bills,” Beamer said. “And regardless of where coach Shula had been or who he had most recently worked with, I would have wanted to bring him on our staff, period. He was the head coach at Alabama when I was an assistant coach at Mississippi State and I have known him for a long time.

“Obviously, we’re both sons of coaches. No one has won more games in the NFL than his dad. So just an immense amount of respect for him as a coach in college and then him as a person.”

Alabama and South Carolina will face off again in 2025 on Oct. 25, this time in Columbia. The Crimson Tide will begin its season on Aug. 30, with a trip to Florida State.