Four losses in five games is nothing short of chaos. Coming in with a 1-4 SEC record, the Gamecocks are preparing for their matchup against Alabama this week. Now, after this SEC championship, they are already out of their league, but if they miss against Bama, then a bowl appearance might also be at risk. With those inconsistencies, even Shane Beamer’s desire to return to his alma mater started making headlines. But AD Jeremiah Donati is not buying any of it yet.

After weeks of struggling with their offensive line, Shane Beamer and the program let go of their OL coach, Lonnie Teasley, and after that, fans were linking Virginia Tech to Beamer, too. But speculations kept rising despite Beamer’s constant denial of this news, especially using it as a “soft landing” spot to reset his coaching career.

But now Donati puts an end to it once and for all. “All he has told me is this is his dream job and he wants to be here,” Donati said. “I take people at face value until given a reason to not. I don’t have any reason to believe he’s leaving.”

With that, Donati also highlights how he tries to maintain an ‘open line of communication’ with Beamer so that he can even call him at 4:18 a.m. on Sunday to get approval on Teasley’s firing. This shows his trust in Beamer that, despite a shaky start, he’s still backing him up. “Just stay positive, keep doing what he’s doing,” Donati said.

“Shane’s a tremendous coach. Even our highest-paid employees need encouragement. This is a big job. We’re behind him 100 percent, and that’s just been my message to him. Keep fighting the good fight every day.” Donati’s first move was to give him an extension of $8 million, and this trust comes in Shane Beamer because of his 9-4 finish last season, where the Gamecocks were ranked in the top 15. On top of that, they even got back LaNorris Sellers and Dylan Stewart, paying a significant amount despite other teams’ interest. With last year’s showing, he even erased 2023’s stains, where they went 5-7 without a bowl appearance.

Even if the Gamecocks show immense trust in him, the inconsistency is hard to ignore. Rocket Sanders is the only South Carolina running back to finish inside the SEC top 10 in rushing yards under Shane Beamer, with 881 yards and 11 touchdowns. With that, they have also been leading in sacks given up since the start of the 2023 season, with 82.

Trust is with Shane Beamer for now, but offensive struggles have prompted fans and analysts to urge a change.

Shane Beamer urged to fire OC

Who would have thought Mike Shula’s hype would turn into fiery rants so quickly? After losing against Oklahoma, fans and analysts couldn’t hold back their frustration over Shane Beamer’s team’s offensive inconsistencies. This is the first time that they have averaged fewer yards since 1999. That’s right. South Carolina averages 297.7 yards per game, the lowest in the SEC. This makes them the only team scoring less than 300 yards this year.

What’s worse is that after coaching gems like Cam Newton, showing up with this many inconsistencies seems odd. Even CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford points straight at it: “Mike Shula has been the worst, last in the SEC right now in midseason, last in scoring offense, second to last in third-down conversions, and has allowed the most tackles for loss. It starts on the offensive line. Players have not been developed there. They’ve got four- and five-star guys, literally at those starting positions.” 

All this has also started showing up on LaNorris Sellers, as he has only thrown 200 passing yards twice this season. And his stats, too, are going down pretty fast. He went 17 of 25 for 124 yards against Oklahoma with -9 rushing yards on 14 carries, getting sacked 6 times. It’s hampering his Heisman hype and pushing down his performance.

Things turned worse when fans openly called for Mike Shula’s firing. Frustration pushed fans’ limits, and what was the result? They came together to organize a protest to make Shula’s firing a done deal. As per a flyer on X, students were also asked to join the meeting at Greene Street on South Carolina’s campus for the “Fire Mike Shula” protest. It will be interesting to see what step Shane Beamer takes before they go up against Alabama this Saturday.