Shane Beamer on outside noise surrounding his future: ‘I’m going to get it fixed’

Shane Beamer and South Carolina went into the season with high hopes. College Football Playoff aspirations, even.

After winning six straight games to end the regular season in 2024, the Gamecocks appeared to be figuring things out under Beamer. It hasn’t played out that way so far in 2025.

South Carolina has now lost four of its last five games. Forget about playoff hopes at this point. Bowl hopes might be in jeopardy. So how do Beamer and the Gamecocks deal with the outside noise and criticism?

“Block it out,” Shane Beamer said. “If you’re spending time listening to that noise then you’re not doing the things that you need to be doing to get better. You’re not doing the things that you need to be doing to win. When our players walk out of the locker room each and every day, they see a sign on the door of the locker room that’s there permanently that says, ‘Starve your distractions, feed your focus.’ And I love that.

“Starve your distractions, all the things that are cluttering your mind. Starve it as much as you can and feed your focus.”

South Carolina had better focus up in a hurry if it wants to turn the season around. The next three games are all against top-10 teams, starting with No. 4 Alabama.

For his part, Shane Beamer is doing what he can to rally the troops. He isn’t making wholesale changes, but he’s definitely tweaking.

Perhaps more importantly, he recognizes the noise out there. He knows he must do better.

“Again, I understand there’s noise out there, and there should be,” Beamer said. “I’m not happy with where we are right now. I’m going to get it fixed because we’ve got great young men in this program. And as the leader and as the head coach of this program, I realize that I’m letting a lot of people down right now with the way that we’re playing.”

Shane Beamer opened up on an entire list of people that he feels he’s letting down right now. He got fiery when doing so, perhaps an indication that he’s using that as motivation going forward.

“Our players that I feel like I’m letting down,” Beamer began. “Our coaches. Our players’ families. Our coaches’ families. The student body. The 80,000 people that pack Williams-Brice Stadium every Saturday. The state of South Carolina, from Charleston, to Myrtle Beach, to the Upstate, to the Midlands. There’s a lot of people that live and die with Gamecock football on Saturdays, and I get it, they’re not happy and neither am I.”

As South Carolina looks to pivot and find a pocket of success this season, Shane Beamer is internalizing the noise. But he promised a fix.

“I take that personally because I truly feel like I’m letting a lot of people down right now,” he said. “I’m working hard each and every week to try and get it fixed, making the decisions schematically, personnel wise, staff wise, each and every week to get it fixed. It’s a process, but we’re going to get it fixed. We’re not far off from where we want to be.”