South Carolina students stage protest calling for OC Mike Shula’s firing
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
After a 26-7 loss to Oklahoma to fall to 3-4 on the season, many South Carolina fans have seen all they need to see of offensive coordinator Mike Shula.
Shula was promoted from his role of senior offensive assistant after previous OC Dowell Loggains left Columbia after two seasons to become the head coach at Appalachian State. So far, things have been far from good offensively.
Under Loggains, the Gamecocks’ offense wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible, either, ranking toward the middle of the SEC before picking up steam late in the campaign. Through seven games under Shula, with LaNorris Sellers having taken a big step back and the run game failing to get much traction, it ranks at or near last in every major offensive category.
On Tuesday, a few South Carolina students (emphasis on a few) made it clear that they want Shula gone. They staged an on-campus protest, as you can see below:
Shane Beamer has already fired offensive line coach Lonnie Teasley and replaced him with tight ends coach/run game coordinator Shawn Elliott, originally the OL coach from 2010 to 2016. It doesn’t sound as if any other changes are coming to the staff, at least for now. Beamer was a little perturbed on Saturday by a reporter’s question about that possibility after the loss to Oklahoma.
However, if things don’t improve over the second half of the season, the fifth-year head coach may have no other choice.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
