South Carolina coaches Dawn Staley and Shane Beamer have always admired and supported each other. In 2022, Staley rushed to defend Beamer when he courted controversy for yelling at the women athletes to get off the field. Staley has also made it to the football team’s practice a few times and has even met with the recruits. In fact, before the Gamecocks’ Citrus Bowl game against Illinois, she addressed the team.

While the Gamecocks women’s basketball team has been stealing headlines with their jaw-dropping performances (ranked No. 2, no less!), the football program had its own moment under the spotlight—but not exactly for the same reasons. Their Citus Bowl game ended in a 21-17 defeat on Monday, however, the talking point was the altercation between Beamer and Illinois head coach Shane Beamer.

It all started late in the third quarter when Illinois’ Jaheim Clarke got injured on a play. During the timeout, Illinois coach Bret Bielema strolled over to Clarke, who was near the South Carolina sideline, and made a T-Bar gesture repeatedly (clearly pressing a few buttons), as there had been some gamesmanship regarding subs earlier in the game, and the fireworks began.

Beamer was not having it. He had to be restrained, as he furiously shouted at the officials. Bielema smirked from his sideline. Throughout the first half, Illinois made the most of the substitution rules that allowed it to run South Carolina’s play clock down on offense.

Despite all that chaos, cooler heads prevailed after Illinois’ victory. The two coaches shook hands without a fuss. Illinois celebrated its first 10-win season since 2001, while South Carolina finished a 9-4. While the altercation and the result may have dampened the South Carolina spirits, Dawn Staley was quick to throw her support around Beamer after his team failed to win.

She tweeted, “Still with @CoachSBeamer and @GamecockFB!! Proud of you fellas! Our future is bright!” How’s that for loyalty?

The altercation stemmed from the T-Bar gesture used to signal a fair catch/touchback on a kickoff to the opposing coverage team. Moments before their on-field tussle, South Carolina made the T-bar signal and proceeded to lateral the ball, leading to a 25-yard return by Nyck Harbor. Hence, Bielema’s actions were mocking what Beamer and his staff were doing and tempers flared.

Both coaches shared their version of the events after the game. 

Top Comment by Lon49

The entire game Beamer was acting like a jerk. Running up and down the sidelines ranting about the officiating,...more

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Beamer was left seething and speaking in the post-game presser he said, “In all my years of being around football, I’ve never seen an opposing head coach come over to the opposing team’s sideline & basically make a gesture towards the opposing head coach.” 

Clarifying his actions Bielema said, “I know the only thing that I did was there’s an unwritten philosophy in coaching that when you do this as a college kickoff return guy, what you’re doing is you’re telling everybody else that it’s going to be a fair catch and it’s going to be dead in the end zone when the ball lands.” The Illinois also made his feelings toward Beamer clear.

“Listen, I love Shane. He’s a good person. I know somebody said that he thought I did it at him. I did it at their whole damn sideline. I wasn’t going personally at him. I did it at their whole sideline. I wanted them to understand that I know what just happened,” he added.

Illinois powered through the game thanks to running back Josh Murray’s two touchdowns and 114 yards rush while Luke Altmyer threw for 174 yards and a touchdown. There was a pivotal moment in the game South Carolina charged forward but was stopped by the Illinois defense at the 7-yard line with a little more than three minutes remaining.

McCray then sealed the victory and helped the Illini run out the clock with a 60-yard run on a third-and-two play from the 15-yard line.

For Beamer, this isn’t the fourth-year coach’s first brush with controversy since he’s been with the Gamecocks. He’s had his fair share of ‘talked’ moments. The silver lining? Dawn Staley has always had his back, no matter what. That has been one constant in Beamer’s time with the Gamecocks.

Dawn Staley has always shown support for Shane Beamer

Back in 2022, the Gamecocks coach found himself in hot water after an on-field incident where he yelled at female athletes to leave the field. During the Gamecocks’ home game against the Georgia Bulldogs, South Carolina invited its women athletes on the field between the first and second quarters to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of Title IX.

However, Beamer was caught on video yelling “Get off the field” at the end zone where the female athletes were present. He quickly apologized but received a lot of backlash. But Staley rushed to his side.

She tweeted, “Hey @CoachSBeamer, sorry I’ve been under a rock the last few days, but we know you have done nothing but support our programs since the day you became @GamecockFB head coach! All hands on deck to get a win on Saturday!”

Beamer hasn’t forgotten her loyalty. Earlier this year, he said, “[Staley] is fantastic, it’s great for me to be able to watch her coach, learn from her, go and watch her team practice… even last season early on I called her to talk about some things.” He didn’t forget to mention how he had learned a lot from her.

She was invited to talk to the team during Spring Practice on April 13. Moreover, at 2024 SEC Media Days, Beamer revealed that some recruits wanted to meet Staley when they were on South Carolina’s campus. According to the football team head coach, Staley found time in the middle of her season to meet with about eight recruits.

And Staley’s amazing records have surely made her a coach to look up to. She led the Gamecocks women’s basketball team to three NCAA titles, including one last year. Beamer, on the other hand, has been grinding to build his own success. While he guided South Carolina football to a 7–6 record in 2021, a championship has remained elusive. 

This year’s Citrus Bowl was something he really wanted to clinch. However, it has been shattered now. But as Staley said, “Our (Gamecocks) future is bright,” and we would like to believe her.