Shane Beamer catches on to his unofficial catchphrase — and vows to cut back
Shane Beamer has finally caught on ... as well.
If you’re a frequent viewer of Beamer’s press conferences, you’ve likely noticed that the South Carolina head football coach often leans on two words.
It is rare that Beamer gets through an answer without invoking his pseudo catchphrase of “as well.”
Take this quote from his postgame press conference Sunday following the Gamecocks’ 24-11 victory over Virginia Tech.
“First games are tough,” Beamer said, “but this one’s extra tough just because of the unknown with Virginia Tech, with their new coordinators, the emotions of the game, all that as well.”
That press conference lasted 25 minutes. Beamer used the phrase “as well” 18 times — which is about on par with most of his performances.
During his pre-Virginia Tech press conference last week, the Gamecocks head coach used said “as well” 19 times. We know that because a South Carolina fan on social media not only created a pre-presser over/under target for “as well” (It was set at 20.5), but created a video compilation of each time Beamer said “as well.”
The X user “Big Dave” shared the video with the caption: “ELITE Performance from Coach Shane Beamer today.”
During Tuesday’s press conference, Beamer — as he often does — ended an answer with “as well,” before catching himself and thinking about Big Dave’s video.
“... a lot of transfers who were playing in their very first game, either at the Power-4 level or here at South Carolina ... as well. So we’ll definitely be better,” Beamer said, quickly realizing what he just did.
“Dang it,” Beamer said with a smile. “I know — what’s that guy on social media who counts all the ‘as wells’? I’m trying to be better today. Somebody sent me that one and I just did it, too. That’s gonna be the last one.”
It was not the last one.
After a review of his press conference transcript, Beamer said the phrase at least 20 times Tuesday, including at least 14 uses after he acknowledged the tendency.
Though he was cognizant of his press-conference tick — even trying to substitute “also” for “as well” — Beamer wasn’t able to shut off the valve. A number of as wells leaked through anyways.
It is unclear how long Beamer has been saying the phrase, or how it became so dominant in his press conferences.
A review of a short interview from 2010, when Beamer was an assistant at South Carolina, revealed him using the phrase three times in four minutes.
So at least we know it’s not new ... as well.
This story was originally published September 2, 2025 at 3:05 PM.
