Shane Beamer responds to potential shot from Mark Stoops
South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer is using viral videos to bring positive attention around his program this offseason. It started with a Full House intro spoof, followed by a cringy Soulja Boy lip sync that saw the 45-year-old sport a backward cap and obnoxious sunglasses while dancing before SEC Media Days.
This comes after South Carolina — the media darling of the SEC — went 7-6 in 2021, including 3-5 in conference play.
In an appearance on the Marty and McGee Show, Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops threw a not-so-subtle jab at Beamer’s recent antics, making it clear that it takes a lot more than “stupid sunglasses” to change a culture. Changing a climate is easy in football, Stoops says, but changing a culture takes real work.
“I think ultimately it’s about the respect throughout the league when you’re dealing with coaches and players,” Stoops said of his successful rebuild at Kentucky. “Win or lose, you walk out you know you’re going to be in for a physical matchup. You know that we’re coming to play, we’re coming to compete and having that mindset. That’s not easy to change.
“I’ve talked years and years ago about climate vs. culture. It’s easy to change a climate. You just change a uniform, talk a little game, dance around, put on some stupid sunglasses, and you can change a climate. But to change a culture is at the core. I’m quite certain we’ve changed our culture.“
After starting at the bottom of the SEC when he first arrived in Lexington — his 2013 roster couldn’t compete in the MAC — Stoops is confident in saying the program’s culture is now where it needs to be.
“That culture throughout our whole organization has totally flipped,” Stoops said. “From being kind of looked like as a dog to being looked at as you better come ready to play because we’re coming. Our players feel that, our fans feel that, and that’s a good feeling.”
It didn’t take long for Stoops’ message to get back to Beamer and the South Carolina football program. In an appearance on The Clubhouse with Kyle Bailey, the second-year coach defended his team’s culture and said he’s only worried about his own program.
“I saw it. We worry about what we can control and worry about our own program,” Beamer said. “I think it’s evident to people who follow this program day in and day out how strong the culture and the environment is here in our program. More and more people are finding that out, for sure.”
Kentucky has won 7 of the last 8 meetings against South Carolina, with this year’s head-to-head battle scheduled for October 8 at Kroger Field.
Needless to say, that game just got a lot more interesting.
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