Much was expected of South Carolina football and head coach Shane Beamer in 2025, but not much has actually gone right for the Gamecocks.
Beamer, who is in his fifth season as the South Carolina coach, entered 2025 coming off his best season in Columbia; in 2024, the Gamecocks went 9-4 overall and 5-3 in the SEC, both best marks for the program since 2017. However, entering the final week of this year, South Carolina, which started off as the 13th-ranked team in the nation, is staring down a potential 4-8 campaign.
The disastrous season, which included five straight losses to end the conference slate, including a historic defeat to Texas A&M in which the Gamecocks blew a 30-3 halftime lead, would likely be more than enough for many universities to fire their head coach. But that is not the case with South Carolina, as athletic director Jeremiah Donati confirmed Tuesday to The State in Columbia that Beamer would be returning for his sixth season as the Gamecocks' head coach.
Why is Donati sticking with Beamer, you might ask? According to The State's Jordan Kaye, the decision “makes a lot of sense” for two different reasons: recent success and a lot of money.
“For one, he’s just a year removed from guiding the Gamecocks to the verge of the College Football Playoff,” Kaye wrote.
“And, well, it would have been costly to move on from Beamer. He received a contract extension in January that pays him over $8 million annually through the 2030 season.
“If South Carolina were to move on from Beamer after the Clemson game, his buyout would have been nearly $25 million. If you include the buyouts for his assistant coaches — including [fired offensive line coach Lonnie] Teasley and [offensive coordinator Mike] Shula — that number would have grown to over $39 million.”
With the growing importance of NIL-funded roster construction, more and more college football programs and their boosters have shown a willingness to stick with embattled head coaches, particularly those with relatively high buyout figures, and redirect that money to recruiting and retaining players.
Entering the final game of this season, the annual rivalry game vs. Clemson, Beamer is 33-29 overall and 16-24 in conference at South Carolina. This will be his second losing season in five years after going 5-7 in 2023.
