South Carolina reportedly makes decision on Shane Beamer’s future
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South Carolina athletic director Jeremiah Donati announced on Tuesday night that Shane Beamer would return as the Gamecocks head coach next year, according to a report by The State.
In a move that The State called “expected,” South Carolina is sticking with Beamer despite a 4-7 record and a dismal 1-7 mark in the SEC as the Gamecocks prepare for their 2025 finale against rival Clemson on Saturday. South Carolina will kick things off with Clemson in a noon ET showdown on SEC Network in Columbia with Beamer on the sideline, and according to Tuesday night’s report by The State the Gamecocks will have Beamer on the sideline when next season begins, too.
Beamer actually had South Carolina above water at 3-2 earlier this season before everything went sideways. The same team that was ranked as highly as 10th in the AP Poll in early September completely fell apart, losing 5 in a row amid the teeth of the SEC grind.
By the time South Carolina made it to its nonconference game a week ago against Coastal Carolina, it was sitting at 3-7 and going nowhere this season. The Gamecocks did finally break through last week in pounding Coastal Carolina, 51-7, to get that 4th win, and now Beamer will try to get them to 5 wins against hated Clemson in Week 14.
Although Beamer has reportedly survived, South Carolina’s struggles this season proved costly to others on its coaching staff. The Gamecocks fired offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley as well as offensive coordinator Mike Shula.
South Carolina’s 1-7 SEC record included a massive meltdown in Week 12, when the Gamecocks took a 30-3 halftime lead over No. 3 Texas A&M before collapsing in the 2nd half in a 31-30 loss in College Station. That was the end of South Carolina’s forgettable SEC journey, but apparently it wasn’t enough to cost Beamer his job going forward.
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.
