Things are not going well in Columbia for South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer.
The Gamecocks have lost seven straight SEC games and 11 of their last 13 against Power Four opposition, including Saturday’s 49-18 loss at No. 8 Alabama. They have lost eight straight games against P4 opponents overall.
Obviously, losing to a top 10 Bama team on the road is nothing to be ashamed of, however, it is the way in which Carolina is losing and how its looks that has boosters and administrators not happy with the direction of the program.
Before falling to the Crimson Tide, the Gamecocks blew a 16-0 lead to Mississippi State at home the week before, plus losing six of their last seven games last season, which included blowing a 28-point halftime lead at Texas A&M.
A report circulated over the weekend that Beamer’s future could be decided by how things go this Saturday when No. 24 Kentucky comes to Williams-Brice Stadium.
Coincidentally, USC’s last win over an SEC foe came against Kentucky exactly a year ago (Sept. 27, 2025) in the same stadium.
However, despite all the outside noise, Beamer says he can’t focus on any of that, and he will not do it.
“I’m focused on putting together a better plan and getting a team better this week to go play against Kentucky,” he said. “That’s what my focus is on.”
Beamer says he spoke with athletic director Jeremiah Donati on Sunday. The two, according to the Carolina football coach, had a conversation before he spoke to the media on Sunday afternoon.
“We had a great conversation right before I jumped on the teleconference with you guys,” Beamer reported. “We talked last night in the locker room, he and Jeff Crane (USC’s deputy AD) and all of our administrators who are super awesome.
“So, they were super supportive last night after the game. And they were in the locker room when I talked to the team after the game.”
Of course, defensive end Dylan Stewart’s actions in the Alabama loss have not helped matters. A projected top-10 pick in next April’s NFL Draft, Stewart punched Crimson Tide tight end Josh Ford in the helmet after a fourth-quarter Alabama touchdown.
The junior was flagged for the altercation but not ejected. He also appeared to ignore Beamer as the USC head coach confronted him about getting off the field faster following a separate penalty earlier in the game.
There was also a video circulating on social media that shows Stewart and a South Carolina assistant coach arguing. All of it led to Beamer indefinitely suspending his star player, who has gotten in trouble before for his on-the-field antics.
“I’ll make the decision on what (Stewart’s) future looks like beyond this week here in the next day or so,” Beamer said. “Still having some meetings and talking with him. But he won’t play this week versus Kentucky. There’s a standard of how we do things in this program, and that was not it last night.
“And it’s beyond the punch. The punch is unacceptable. He’s not the first person to ever, unfortunately, throw a punch in a football game, and he won’t be the last. But it’s some of the other stuff that isn’t how we do things in this program. And accountability is a core value of this program, and we are all accountable to the standard. So, we’ll see what that looks like here going forward.”