South Carolina HC Shane Beamer makes claim involving Tennessee Vols fans and Florida Gators fans
One of the most memorable moments of the 2024/25 college football bowl game season came when South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer and Illinois head coach Bret Bielema had an on-field altercation during the Citrus Bowl. Bielema was upset about a trick play that South Carolina ran on a kickoff return, which led to Beamer […]
One of the most memorable moments of the 2024/25 college football bowl game season came when South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer and Illinois head coach Bret Bielema had an on-field altercation during the Citrus Bowl.
Bielema was upset about a trick play that South Carolina ran on a kickoff return, which led to Beamer having to be restrained by the Gamecocks sideline.
The play that Bielema was upset about involved a South Carolina player fielding a kick in the end zone and then acting like he was taking the touchback before lateraling the ball to a teammate. The play picked up 25 or 26 yards (I maintain that this play involved too much risk — it easily could've resulted in a safety if the lateral is dropped).
Beamer, who is a former Tennessee Vols graduate assistant and has a master's degree from UT, joined the Inside the Gamecocks: The Morning Show this week and he doubled-down on calling Bielema's actions "bush league".
The fourth-year South Carolina head coach also said that all kinds of folks — from Florida Gators and Tennessee Vols fans to Hall of Fame coaches and current coaches — have told him that what he did was "right".
"I do appreciate the number of people that have either come up to me in public or texted me after the game," said Beamer. "Or called me after the game, saying, 'What you did was right, man, I wasn't a Gamecock before, but I am now.' Whether it be athletic directors across college athletics, or former coaches that are in the College Football Hall of Fame, or current coaches that were in the College Football Playoff this year. Or Florida Gators fans or Tennessee Vols fans, or whatever. I appreciate that. I wish it hadn't happened, but it is what it is. And I'm always gonna have the backs of our players and our sideline. And I just thought that was, you know, bush league, what he did to our sideline…..I told him the same thing after the game as well."
Things happen in the heat of the moment when coaches and players are competing. We see baseball managers and basketball coaches do that sort of thing once a week during the season it seems like. It happened. There's no need for an offseason of discourse about how each coach should've handled that situation.
Beamer, by the way, noted that South Carolina cleared the play with officials before the game, so it was completely legal. Maybe Bielema was just mad he got got.
Of course, the hilarious thing about the whole altercation is that the result of the play was the exact same as it would've been if South Carolina had taken the touchback.
It's too bad that South Carolina and Illinois don't play each other next season — that game would certainly be must-watch TV.
