$8 million man: New contract boosts Shane Beamer’s salary at South Carolina
.JPG "South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer waves to supporters after arriving for the Palmetto Bowl between South Carolina and Clemson at Memorial Stadium in Clemson on Saturday, November 30, 2024.")
The University of South Carolina is rewarding Shane Beamer after the Gamecocks’ recent success.
On Friday, the South Carolina Board of Trustees approved a contract extension for the Gamecocks’ head football coach that will run through the end 2030 and pay him $8.15 million in 2025 with $100,000 raises in each season that follows.
Beamer’s previous contract, an extension in 2023 that more than doubled his previous salary, ran through 2027 and would have paid him $6.625 million this year with a $250,000 raise in both 2026 and 2027.
Even with the raise, Beamer’s salary is still in the middle of the SEC pack. For reference, his $6.4 million pay in 2024 slotted him 33rd nationally and 14th in the SEC — ahead of only Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby ($4.25 million) and Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea ($3.19 million). He’s now tied for ninth in the conference along with Oklahoma’s Brent Venables.
His extension comes after one of the best seasons in school history — a 9-4 record including six-straight victories to finish the regular season highlighted by a thrilling, come-from-behind win at Clemson. While the remarkable finish to the season did not earn the Gamecocks a spot in the College Football Playoff, it put South Carolina and Beamer squarely in the national spotlight — earning USC a top-15 ranking and Beamer the SEC Coach of the Year award from The Associated press.
It’s the second major decision by new athletic director Jeremiah Donati, who replaced Ray Tanner just a few weeks ago. USC a week ago extended women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley with a contract that will pay her over $4 million a year.
“The culture and commitment to excellence that Coach Beamer has built in our football program shows that we are headed in the right direction and on a strong upward trajectory,” Donati said in a statement. “Coach Beamer has made clear his desire to be at the University of South Carolina and this extension shows our collective support for him as the leader of our football program.”
It was Tanner who both hired Beamer and negotiated his extension two years ago — and the fact Donati moved to ensure Beamer was around for many years to come is quite the vote of confidence out of the gate.
Beamer’s extension, too, comes a month after all 10 of Beamer’s on-field assistants garnered new contracts and raises.
In updated buyout terms, Beamer owes USC $5 million if he leaves any time in 2025. That figure drops by $1 million each year of the contract, all the way to zero owed in the final year of the deal.
Shane Beamer contract details
- Jan. 1, 2025 to Dec. 31, 2025: $8,150,000
- Jan. 1, 2026 to Dec. 31, 2027: $8,250,000
- Jan. 1, 2027 to Dec. 31, 2027: $8,350,000
- Jan. 1, 2028 to Dec. 31, 2028: $8,450,000
- Jan. 1, 2029 to Dec. 31, 2029: $8,550,000
- Jan. 1, 2030 to Dec. 31, 2030: $8,650,000
SEC football coaching salaries
Figures are according to the USA Today salary database. Other than Beamer, salaries here are as of the 2024 season
- 1. Kirby Smart, Georgia: $13.28 million
- 2. Steve Sarkisian, Texas: $10.6 million
- 3. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama: $10 million
- 4. Brian Kelly, LSU: $9.98 million
- 5. Mark Stoops, Kentucky: $9.01 million
- 6. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss: $9 million
- 7. Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri: $9 million
- 8. Josh Heupel, Tennessee: $9 million
- 9(T). Brent Venables, Oklahoma: $8.15 million
- 9(T)Shane Beamer, South Carolina: $8.15 million
- 11. Billy Napier, Florida: $7.37 million
- 12. Mike Elko, Texas A&M: $7 million
- 13. Hugh Freeze, Auburn: $6.73 million
- 14. Sam Pittman, Arkansas: $6.5 million
- 15. Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State: $4.25 million
- 16. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt: $3.19 million
What about other USC football coaches?
▪ 2016-20: Will Muschamp was slated to make $4.4 million in 2020 before the school’s top-paid sports coaches took at 10% pay cut to help with the financial impacts of the COVID pandemic.
▪ 2005-2015: Steve Spurrier made $1.25 million annually when he was hired in late 2004. That grew to $4,028,600 in 2015, the season in which he left the program in October.
▪ 1999-2004: Lou Holtz was making about $900,000 annually in the final years of his USC tenure.
▪ 1994-1998: Brad Scott’s base salary was closer to $130,000 a year with the Gamecocks. He also received a $275,000 loan from the Gamecock Club as part of his final contract. He wasn’t required to repay the loan because he was dismissed.
This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 9:00 AM.
