Big jump for Shane Beamer’s hot seat rating ahead of 2026 season, CBS says
Things can change quickly in college football.
This time last year it would’ve been nearly insane to think South Carolina football head coach Shane Beamer was anywhere near being in danger of losing his job. A year later, Beamer’s “hot seat rating” is now among the highest in the country in the eyes of CBS Sports.
The Gamecocks’ head coach has a rating of 4.3 (out of 5) entering the 2026 season, per CBS’s yearly hot seat list released Wednesday. Beamer’s rating places him in the “start improving now” category — the second-warmest grouping behind “win or be fired.” Beamer and two other coaches are in the “start improving now” category: Maryland’s Mike Locksley (4.9) and North Carolina’s Bill Belichick (4.1).
Beamer was even included on the lead graphic for CBS’ yearly hot seat ratings along with Belichick and Florida State’s Mike Norvell. The Gamecocks coach’s rating is the fourth-highest in the country (out of 138 coaches listed), and he’s the only SEC coach in the Top 10.
CBS Sports determines the rankings based on votes from 10 of its college football writers.
“Beamer has gone through just about every up and down at South Carolina, oscillating between winning and losing records each of the past four years,” CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah wrote. “Retaining quarterback LaNorris Sellers and defensive end Dylan Stewart is tremendous for the program, but now they have to win. The Gamecocks are also the biggest losers of the new nine-game SEC schedule; nine SEC opponents and Clemson is too hard for just about any program.”
Beamer’s 2026 hot seat rating is drastically different from the 1.1 he received last year, a mark that put him in the “safe and secure category.”
Things seemed to be turning around for the Gamecocks entering last season. South Carolina posted a 9-4 mark in 2024, the best of the Beamer era and the most wins in nearly a decade, and was considered by some to be a College Football Playoff snub.
But the 2025 season was rough on the Gamecocks. South Carolina failed to live up to high expectations and finished 4-8, marking the second time USC missed a bowl game under Beamer. In five years at the helm of the program, Beamer has compiled a 33-30 record that includes a 1-2 mark in bowl games.
“I don’t pay a lot of attention to it,” Beamer told The Greenville News in a June interview. “That’s life in this profession, particularly in the SEC. You have a really good season, you’re not on the hot seat, you have a bad season, you’re gonna go in the hot seat. Focus on what you can control, and keep trying to do your job at a high level.”
South Carolina’s roster and coaching staff have a lot of new faces this season. The Gamecocks signed a 25-member transfer portal class and added five new assistant coaches, including new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles.
It’s important to note that Beamer’s hot seat rating doesn’t guarantee anything. Five of the eight coaches who CBS gave a hot seat rating of 4.1 or higher last season were eventually fired. Still, Oklahoma’s Brent Venables entered 2025 with a very-warm 4.7 rating, the Sooners finished 10-3 and their coach now has a 1.9 hot-seat score (safe and secure) in 2026.
What the hot seat ratings mean
- 5 rating: Win or be fired (3 coaches listed here)
- 4-4.99 rating: Start improving now (3 coaches here)
- 3-3.99 rating: Pressure is mounting (14 coaches here)
- 2-2.99 rating: All good ... for now (23 coaches here)
- 1-1.99 rating: Safe and secure (48 coaches here)
- 0-0.99 rating: Untouchable (47 coaches here)
CBS Sports Top 10 for coaches on the hot seat
Coaches are listed with their record at the school and their hot seat score in parenthesis.
- 1. Wisconsin/Luke Fickell 17-21 (5)
- 2. Florida State/Mike Norvell 38-34 (5)
- 3. Maryland/Mike Locksley 37-49 (4.9)
- 4. South Carolina/Shane Beamer 33-30 (4.3)
- 5. North Carolina/Bill Belichick 4-8 (4.1)
- 6. Southern Cal/Lincoln Riley 35-18 (3.8)
- 7. Middle Tenn./Derek Mason 6-18 (3.6)
- 8. Cincinnati/Scott Satterfield 15-22 (3.5)
- 9. Boston College/Bill O’Brien 9-16 (3.5)
- 10. Georgia St./Dell McGee 4-20 (3.3)
This story was originally published July 15, 2026 at 10:46 AM.
