Shane Beamer sends pointed message to doom-and-gloom crowd after Doty injury reaction
Shane Beamer isn’t listening to the doubters.
Speaking with reporters Saturday on the heels of South Carolina’s first fall scrimmage and news that starting quarterback Luke Doty could be sidelined for a few weeks with a foot injury, Beamer was direct in his response to any fans who were ready to jump off the bandwagon.
“I know there was a lot of doom and gloom,” Beamer said. “I saw and heard a lot about how the hopes of our season hinged on the results of an MRI and, frankly, that’s bull crap. We’ve got a hell of a football team and whether one guy is in or out, we’ve got 117 other guys ready to step up no matter who’s out.”
Beamer, who was in a particularly fiery mood Saturday, didn’t mince words. He pointed to how running back Kevin Harris continues to rehab from a recent back procedure. He noted cornerback Cam Smith is progressing in working back from a broken bone in his foot.
Most of all, it was the disclosure that Doty’s foot injury is not quite as serious as it was initially believed to be that grew the most audible clicking of keyboards from writers in attendance.
“It’s not doom and gloom right now,” Beamer continued. “It’s a great opportunity for everybody else.”
The current expectation with Doty is that he’ll be questionable for the season opener against Eastern Illinois on Sept. 4. The foot injury he suffered in practice on Friday is being diagnosed as a sprain. Early reports suggested Doty had suffered a fracture and ligament damage.
Beamer pointed to former Gamecocks signal caller and current director of football relations Connor Shaw having suffered a similar injury that only held him out two to three weeks during his time at USC.
“We’ve got a great group of guys that, frankly, I’m glad they don’t listen to the outside narrative,” Beamer said. “Because the outside narrative today from what I was told today was doom and gloom and the season is over, and ‘Oh my gosh, what are we going to do now?’ “
“What we would’ve done if we had gotten bad news on Luke is we would’ve come out here and had a hell of a scrimmage this afternoon and gotten ready for Eastern Illinois — and that’s exactly what we did.”
Injuries aside, Saturday added another layer to the ever evolving head coach.
Beamer has been lauded as a competitor by his compatriots, despite his usually positive and chipper demeanor. Saturday gave reporters, fans and other onlookers a brief glimpse into the fiesty competitor that resides just below the surface.
That fire and passion persisted as Beamer continued his spiel on quarterbacks and answered questions on next steps under center. Asked where things stood at quarterback, he explained how the staff continued to push FCS transfer Jason Brown, freshman Colten Gauthier and the rest of the room to make plays despite Doty’s absence.
Two minute drills were included in the afternoon. So too was no-huddle work. There was tempo. there was some actual huddling. Play clocks ran, just as they would in a game.
Taking a pause, at this point, wasn’t an option.
“We didn’t change anything,” Beamer said. “It’s not like we said, ‘Luke’s out we’re going to call two pass plays and three run plays and do the same thing over and over again.’ We did everything.
“For the most part, the huddle mechanics and getting the play called and executing at the line of scrimmage was pretty good,” he continued. “We’ve got to be better but we wanted to see how those guys handled that.”
Minutes after his brief rant on Doty and expectations, he returned to the place where Beamer has long sat since taking the job at South Carolina in December. Questioned on how USC has been able to largely mitigate major losses in the transfer portal, he spoke on the realness he and the rest of the staff have maintained.
Amid the chaos of losing a starting quarterback Saturday, Beamer was just what he’s been since landing in Columbia — himself.
“It’s really day-to-day,” he said when queried on how the staff has kept the roster in tact. “We (the coaches) don’t change. What you see is what you get.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2021 at 6:52 PM.
