Shane Beamer and Jeff Lebby entered the 2026 season on plenty of hot seat lists.
The coaches also entered Saturday’s matchup between South Carolina and Mississippi State with 2-0 records. All should have been well, right?
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The Bulldogs came into the game with more buzz, primarily because of their breakout star quarterback Kamario Taylor. But things were looking up for the Gamecocks with a 23-16 lead at home.
College football’s hottest hot seats: Which coach is under most pressure?
Welp, them the wheels fell off. Mississippi State (3-0) outscored the hosts 41-22 in the last three quarters to give Lebby just his second SEC win since taking the job in 2024. Beamer has never started 3-0 in his six seasons in Columbia and is now 2-10 in his past 12 games against Power Four opponents.
That didn’t go over well with the home fans, who started chanting “Fire Beamer!”
Beamer has addressed the pressure mounting before, saying, “That’s life in this profession, particularly in the SEC.” But it rarely ends well when the fans start chanting for change three games into the season with Alabama, a resurgent Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Georgia and Texas A&M still on the schedule.
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“Certainly really disappointing with you know, us, and how we performed overall tonight. Just told the team this moment won’t define this football team,” Beamer said postgame Saturday. “I know all of you guys and the articles you all write and narratives and all that, you’re going to try and define this team based on what just happened tonight, and that’s not the case. We’ll be defined, this team will, by how we respond from this night. And I know the type of young men that we have on this football team. I know the leadership that we have on this football team, and we will respond the right way. And eager to get back to work with these guys and see if we can be better next Saturday night in Tuscaloosa against a really good Alabama team.”
What is Shane Beamer’s buyout if he’s fired by South Carolina?
Beamer’s buyout is $27.9 million, dropping to $22.1 million on Dec. 31.
Greenville News reporter Lulu Kesin contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: South Carolina fans chant ‘Fire Beamer’ after collapse vs Mississippi State
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
