Shane Beamer says South Carolina "not far off" following Mike Shula firing

On Sunday, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer dismissed offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Shula. Shula led the Gamecock offense for 10 games, dating back to the Citrus Bowl against Illinois. The results ranged from below average to downright abysmal.

Carolina hasn’t logged a 350-yard offensive performance in 2025, and Shula’s offenses never scored more than 22 points. Star quarterback LaNorris Sellers hasn’t played like himself this season under Shula’s tutelage. The team hasn’t been able to move the ball consistently on the ground or through the air. During the Ole Miss broadcast, ESPN analyst Louis Riddick even described the offense as “a total failure.”

As GamecockCentral’s Wes Mitchell wrote, Beamer “had no choice but to make a change.”

Despite the dark place that South Carolina’s offense sits nine games into the 2025 season, Beamer told the media on Sunday that he is optimistic that a turnaround is within reach.

“I know no one wants to hear it. We’re not far off,” he claimed during his Sunday night teleconference. “We have been in the fourth quarter of games against multiple teams this year that are College Football Playoff contenders, and we’re right there.”

In four of USC’s six losses, the Gamecocks have been within a touchdown in the fourth quarter. That includes an eight-point lead over Alabama with less than three minutes to play and a lead on the road against Missouri in the final period. The feeling around Columbia is that a competent offense would have broken through for at least a couple of wins in those tightly contested ball games.

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As it stands, the numbers have been bad on that side of the football–really bad, in fact. Beamer has acknowledged that, previously calling his team’s statistical output “alarming.” South Carolina ranks 15th or 16th in the SEC in virtually every offensive stat, and the Gamecocks are near the bottom nationally, as well.

Even so, Beamer said that he believes a change in leadership could be what allows USC to put points on the board. Following an earlier move to replace Lonnie Teasley with Shawn Elliott as the team’s offensive line coach, the Gamecocks have seen some moderate improvements up front. The ever-optimistic Beamer reiterated that he is hopeful more improvement will come with a new coordinator.

…or coordinators.

According to Beamer, there could be more than one voice instrumental in a potential turnaround. “We’ve got a capable offensive staff with those coaches that are in there right now,” he said. “It’ll be a collaborative group effort putting together the game plan over the next couple of weeks. And in regards to who’s calling plays on game day, that’s something we’ll get into at a different time.”

Though there likely will be one primary playcaller, multiple offensive coaches will play a role in the Gamecocks’ efforts to move the football in November.

Both wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator Mike Furrey and offensive line coach/tight ends coach/run game coordinator Shawn Elliott have some form of history as OCs. Furrey, when he was the head coach at Limestone, called plays. Elliott was one of several co-OCs under Steve Spurrier at South Carolina for four seasons.

Whether it’s Furrey, Elliott, or another coach, Beamer has a few thoughts in mind about what he’d like to see from the next full-time offensive coordinator at South Carolina.

“I’m looking for somebody that can help elevate this program and help us take the next step because we’ve accomplished a lot of firsts in our time here,” he said before dropping the “not far” descriptor again. “We’ve done a lot of great things in our time here. We were on the verge of being in the College Football Playoff last year. And we’re not far away from being back in that mix.”

Beamer added, “This will be an attractive position to someone. The main characteristic [he is looking for in the next OC] is someone that can take this offense and take our quarterback room to another level.” With neither Furrey nor Elliott coaching quarterbacks, how seriously they’ll be considered this offseason remains to be seen.

Though Beamer said nothing officially, assistant quarterbacks coach Davis Koetter is expected to handle the position room.

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With Furrey, Elliott, and Koetter (and anyone else) potentially growing in their offensive influence, Beamer shared that the Gamecocks will have an opportunity to reassess much of what they’ve done this fall. Frankly, with the results on the field being what they’ve been, those evaluations will be necessary.

“We just haven’t been efficient and productive enough on Saturdays,” Beamer stated. “We need to look at everything that we’re doing schematically, personnel-wise, for sure…It’s just on Saturdays, there’s a nine-game body of work here in the 2025 season that I just did not see us progressing collectively and individually at a rate that I thought was good enough.”

The timing of the Shula dismissal brings both good news and bad news.

The good news is that South Carolina is on an open date. The Gamecocks will not play this weekend, giving the team nearly two weeks to get accustomed to new offensive leadership.

The bad news is that USC’s next game will come on the road in College Station. South Carolina will take on undefeated Texas A&M, the AP’s No. 3 team, on Saturday, November 15th. Kickoff is slated for the early window, sometime between noon and 1:00 p.m. (Eastern).

The Gamecocks must win out to reach traditional six-win bowl eligibility. That will be a tall task with the Aggies, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, and Clemson Tigers remaining on the schedule.

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