There's no quieting the noise surrounding Shane Beamer's future at South Carolina, but the struggling Gamecocks' coach understands the scrutiny as the leader of an SEC program and says he is working to get things corrected this season.
South Carolina's 35-34 overtime loss to Kentucky over the weekend was the team's eighth straight in the SEC and 12th setback in its last 14 games against Power Four opponents.
Few coaches are facing the amount of pressure that Beamer's under right now, but he doesn't seem worried about his status heading into a Week 6 showdown at Florida.
"It's a challenge. It is what it is. It's week to week in this league and I know that. Right now, 2-3 is not good enough," Beamer said Tuesday. "I haven't been good enough as a head coach. I own it. We've got to get better as a football team. It really doesn't change, going into it versus in it. Right now, I'm focusing on what I can control, and that's trying to put together the best team to go play on Saturdays to give us the best chance to be successful on Saturdays.
"All I can go on is the conversations I've had with (athletic director) Jeremiah (Donati), (senior deputy director of athletics) Jeff Crane, and the text message I got from our president emeritus over the weekend -- who's been awesome. Some of our biggest donors that I've gotten phone calls, voicemails and text messages … that's why I go on, not what people and their 'sources' say. Then it doesn't happen, and suddenly it's, 'well, my sources now say this. "It's like c'mon man."
Recent social media comments about his job on a post centered on his daughter's senior night at her high school, the night before South Carolina's loss to Mississippi State, really bothered Beamer.
"There's some crappy people in the world, there just is," Beamer said, who is currently on a three-week break from checking his phone, he confirmed.
CBS Sports reported on Monday that Beamer's job security isn't as tenuous as it seems due to financial constraints at the university.
Beamer has mentioned the support he has from the school's administration several times during this current three-game slide and said as much during Tuesday's press conference.
"I don't know if social media is always real-life," Beamer said. "What you see on social media vs. what is actually real. I know the noise out there last week versus what was actually real.
"The same people in the student section against Mississippi State, chanting 'Fire Beamer' at the end of the game, seven days earlier, they were screaming 'Beamer Ball' at the end of the game when we beat Towson. It's truly week to week."
Dylan Stewart returns to practice, availability TBA
After a week away from the program, defensive end Dylan Stewart has returned to team activities. Last week, Stewart served his one-game suspension from the SEC for striking an Alabama player in the Gamecocks' loss to the Crimson Tide. In addition to punishment from the conference, Stewart is currently on an indefinite suspension from Beamer.
"He came back today and was in the 8 a.m. team meeting we had this morning, and he was at practice," Beamer said. "As I've told him and the team, his status will be determined as we go throughout the week."
Stewart was a five-star recruit in the Class of 2024 and one of the most significant recruits of the Beamer era at South Carolina. The junior posted a combined 22.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in his first two seasons with the program.
He has yet to record a sack over two games as he works his way back from injury.
"I do believe my job as the head coach is to win football games, but it's also to help young men and help them grow," Beamer said. "Last week was a learning lesson from him and I (hope) there was growth from that. He's a good young man that I care a lot about. He's not, and I'm not condoning his actions in Tuscaloosa at all, and it's unacceptable, but he's not the first person that has ever punched a player in a game, and he won't be the last."
