Shane Beamer explains why OC Mike Shula was fired at South Carolina
After falling 30-14 Saturday night to No. 7 Ole Miss, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer made his second staff change of the season as his team sits at 3-6 (1-6 in the SEC).
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Shula was fired, the team announced. The move comes as South Carolina sits at 294.1 yards and 19.7 points per game — both numbers are last in the SEC. The Gamecocks, ranked No. 10 to start the season, are the only FBS team to not eclipse 350 yards in a game this season.
Beamer shared his thought process behind the decision at his weekly teleconference Sunday, saying it was “one billion percent” his decision.
“I made the decision that I made last December to promote him, and I believed it was the right decision for a lot of reasons,” he said. “Frankly, it just hasn’t worked like I wanted it to work.”
Beamer didn’t say who would take over playcalling duties, but did mention assistant coaches Mike Furrey, Shawn Elliott and Marquel Blackwell as potential names.
“I’ll talk with our team tomorrow and talk about our plan of attack going forward,” he said. “We’ve got a capable offensive staff with those coaches that are in there right now, and it’ll be a collaborative group effort putting together the game plan over the next couple of weeks. In regard to who’s calling the plays on game day, that’s something we’ll get into at a different time.”
When asked about the timing of the decision, and whether there was a specific moment that led to the decision being made, Beamer didn’t have a specific answer. He said this decision at this time was what he felt was best for the team.
“I’m aware of what the game plan is each week. ... I saw the preparation each week,” Beamer said. “But at the end of the day, you’re judged on what happens on Saturday, and we just haven’t been efficient and productive enough on Saturdays. ... There’s a nine game body of work here in the 2025 season that I just did not see us progressing, collectively and individually, at a rate that I thought was good enough.”
Despite Shula ultimately being fired, Beamer defended his initial decision to sign the former NFL coach to a three-year, $3.3 million contract last December.
USC’s athletic department owes Shula more than $2.3 million by firing him now.
It was the right thing to do at the time,” Beamer said “There was continuity. There was continuing down the road that we were on. It was building on the way we finished last season. It was a relationship with LaNorris (Sellers), it was his experience in the NFL. I absolutely felt it was the right thing to do for those reasons.”
The Gamecocks have a bye week to figure out their new playcalling structure before heading to College Station on Nov. 15 to take on the currently undefeated Texas A&M Aggies.
This story was originally published November 2, 2025 at 5:07 PM.
