CBS Sports analyst says South Carolina may not be able to afford to fire Shane Beamer
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CBS Sports analyst Brad Crawford wasn’t defending Shane Beamer on Sunday, so South Carolina fans shouldn’t be angry with Crawford.
He was simply making a point that, despite the Gamecocks being in disarray with a 2-3 overall record and an 0-3 mark in the SEC, it might just be too expensive to go ahead and simply fire Beamer. It could simply come down to dollars and cents right now in assessing Beamer’s job status in early October, with 7 games still to play.
According to contract details obtained by USA Today, buying out Beamer would cost South Carolina a whopping $22.55 million if Beamer were to be fired by Dec. 1 of this year. That’s a lot of money, which the school might not be willing to just fork over in exchange for ridding itself of the head coach who’s been in Columbia since 2021.
Beamer has a mediocre overall record of 35-33 during his tenure, to go with an ugly SEC mark of 16-27. That’s not in question. What is in question, Crawford said Sunday, were those messy buyout details South Carolina would have to work through to get rid of Beamer.
“The situation is dire at South Carolina, given eight straight losses in SEC play dating back to last season. … But in terms of being fired, I’m not so sure that happens this season, and I couldn’t have said that 48 hours ago, especially given (Saturday night’s overtime loss to Kentucky), but based on what I’ve been told (on Sunday morning) the financial cost for the Gamecocks would be so enormous, you’ve got Beamer’s $24 million buyout, you got $6 or $7 million that you owe the rest of the coaching staff then another $25 million investment in hiring a new staff in Columbia,” Crawford explained.
Here is Crawford’s entire explanation for why South Carolina could be in a holding pattern with Beamer:
South Carolina will try to bounce back from Saturday’s crushing loss to Kentucky, but it won’t be easy. The Gamecocks head to Gainesville to play an angry Florida team next Saturday, and here is what the Kalshi market is currently saying about the Week 6 clash at The Swamp (12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network):
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
