South Carolina football in free fall as Shane Beamer may be out of time with buyout decision looming

Another blown lead, another loss for South Carolina. What has ultimately turned into the story of Gamecocks football over the last two years once again caught up with head coach Shane Beamer on Saturday against Kentucky.

Coming off a thrashing against Alabama last week, which came one week after losing to Mississippi State after holding a 16-0 lead, the dam seems to have officially broken in Columbia on different ways to lose a game.

Leading 17-0 against Kentucky at home, South Carolina fans have grown accustomed to never taking a lead for granted. In this case for those wearing Garnett, it was as if the game was tied 0-0 given past instances of being let down by the results.

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And now, after Kentucky beat South Carolina 35-34 in overtime on a two-point conversion to move to 4-1, the chatter throughout the state will only grow louder for the Gamecocks’ athletic department to make a change at head coach.

This was the Gamecocks eighth straight SEC loss, and also their 12th loss against Power-4 opponents in the past 14 games. If the Gamecocks were to fire Shane Beamer before the end of the year, he would be owed an estimated $22.5 million for his departure.

To be fair to Shane Beamer, the program is not getting a return on investment with the money spent on players like LaNorris Sellers or Dylan Stewart, which reportedly hovers above $5 million combined. If anything, the football team has been robbed blind by Stewart, given his lack of production and antics on the field this season, and we just started the month of October.

In hopes of putting an end to any distractions coming off last week’s temper-tantrums along the sidelines in Tuscaloosa, Beamer suspended Dylan Stewart indefinitely this week from the program, with the head coach declaring he was the only one making a decision on when the defensive standout could return.

But, it goes deeper than that.

Those writing the checks are not going to sit with this, and pray for better days

In this era of college athletics, a return on investment for those helping fund these player contracts essentially comes down to whether you make the playoff, or hoist a trophy at season’s end. And no, I don’t mean the Outback or Gator Bowl trophies.

After a memorable 2024 season that saw the Gamecocks miss out on the college football playoff by just a few spots on the final weekend, the fans have witnessed a program going in the wrong direction.

Finishing 4-8 in 2025, Shane Beamer declared that the national media, and those covering the program on a daily basis, would be changing their tune on the South Carolina program after they put together a 2026 season that would see them competing for both a conference and national title.

“I can one billion percent promise you this… because of the success we’re gonna have next season… we’re gonna look back at this season and say, ‘It sucked going through it, but because of what we went through in ’25 it led us to what we just did in ’26,'” Beamer said last year.

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Quarterback Kenny Minchey of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts after a win over the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C., on Oct. 3, 2026. (Getty Images)

And, even though we all understood what he was implying this past week, it obviously didn’t sit well with Gamecock fans when he discussed how good of a practice they had following the loss to Alabama.

In reality, Beamer has always been confident that he was the right man to lead South Carolina back to the same statue as they acquired during the 2024 season. But, thanks to injuries, play-calling and some pretty bad luck, the 2026 campaign was crucial for his future.

Different era means enhanced timing on decisions in college football

Now, after the third loss in five games, those who control the payroll and fundraising at South Carolina will have a decision to make on what the future looks like for a program trying not to be forgotten within the SEC.

Obviously, this is going to only create more chaos around the football building, especially when you are out of contention for a conference title before the second weekend of October.

Schools know that they can no longer wait until seasons end to make these decisions, especially when you are trying to sell season tickets for 2027. At the same time, those within the program are already trying to detour players’ agents from shopping them to other teams for next year, which has been the case according to multiple sources.

Lanorris Sellers #16 of the South Carolina Gamecocks looks on during the first half against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C., on Nov. 22, 2025. (Getty Images)

And, it’s not just at South Carolina.

Discussions about player retention, the transfer portal, raises and movement are already taking place, and will only increase over the next two months.

So, on the weekend of October 3rd, influential voices around the Gamecocks athletic department are already having to make a decision about 2027.

Like it or not, that’s the world we live in now.

For Shane Beamer, his team will face Florida next, before they are due for a much-needed bye week.

We will soon find out what kind of a timeline the South Carolina administration is working on, if a change is going to happen over the next eight days.