Shane Beamer doesn’t want to talk about the Texas A&M game. And honestly, can you blame him?
When a reporter asked the South Carolina head coach this week to revisit arguably the lowest point of the 2025 season, Beamer didn’t even try to spin it. He just said, “Can we not?” according to On3. That pretty much sums up how everyone in Columbia feels about that afternoon.
The kind of loss that sticks with you
South Carolina led Texas A&M 30-3 last year. That’s not a typo. Thirty to three. They lost 31-30. The Gamecocks managed to give up 28 unanswered points and let a win slip through their hands in the most brutal way possible. It was the kind of collapse that makes you question everything about a program.
And it wasn’t just one bad game. South Carolina finished 4-8 overall. They won exactly one SEC game all season. For a program that expected to take a step forward, the 2025 season was a step off a cliff.
Beamer knows the heat is on
Beamer is entering his sixth season as South Carolina’s head coach. He’s been around since 2021. But the last three years have produced two losing records. Fans are not exactly overflowing with patience. The general vibe around the program: win in 2026 or start looking for a new job.
Beamer made significant changes to his assistant coaching staff this offseason. That’s usually a sign that a head coach feels the pressure and is trying to shake things up before he’s the one getting shaken out the door.
“I think with this group, they’ve been a very mature group since they came back in January,” Beamer said. “There are a lot of older guys on our team that have been around, and they know what they want to get done, and they’ve been very intentional about their work since January.”
It’s a sales pitch. And for Beamer’s sake, it better be true.
Stacking days and hoping for different results
Beamer kept his comments pretty standard for this time of year. He talked about stacking days and getting better every day. He said he likes where this group is working. But talk is cheap in February. The real test comes in September.
“For us, it’s just continuing to work and stack days and continue to get better and better each day,” Beamer added. “[I] like the way this group is working and I’m proud of where they are right now.”
The Gamecocks open the 2026 season on September 5 against Kent State. That’s a winnable game. But the schedule gets much harder after that. And the Texas A&M loss is still sitting there like a ghost that nobody wants to acknowledge.
Beamer doesn’t want to think about it. The fans don’t want to think about it. But that game is going to hang over this program until they prove they’re not the same team that let a 27-point lead evaporate into thin air.
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