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Editors’ note, Jan. 14 at 9:25 p.m. ET: An earlier version of this story misstated the radio program’s comments as “erroneous.” The story has been corrected to reflect it as the host’s opinion.
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer took a moment to the set record straight on Friday night in response to a talk show host’s claim that Beamer’s program coveted new Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
The Tigers announced the hiring of Riley, who helped guide TCU to a national championship appearance, earlier in the day to a deal that made the 33-year-old one of the NCAA’s highest-paid assistant coaches. Shortly after the announcement, a segment from 97.7 The FanUpstate surfaced saying Beamer “really wanted” to hire Riley to replace former OC Marcus Satterfield, who left in December for the same role at Nebraska.
Beamer then took to Twitter a couple hours later to share a fiery tweet shutting down the rumors and blasting the station for the host’s take. The second-year coach ended the message by voicing his support for recently-hired offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, who joined the Gamecocks on Dec. 13 after a two-year stint as the tight ends coach at Arkansas.
Wrote Beamer, “I normally don’t respond to second-rate /J.V. radio programs I’ve never heard of (and apparently no one else has either considering you’re in the Upstate & have 8,000 followers)
“Do you have a good source? Other than, oh I don’t know ....ME?
“Happy for Garrett. We got OUR guy”
In addition to the tweet about Beamer’s alleged interest in Riley, The FanUpstate shared a link to a related segment from one of their podcasts called Offsides With Marc Ryan.
In the clip, Ryan claimed Clemson “got the coordinator that South Carolina wanted” before adding that Beamer is “probably and secretly” disappointed that he’s “continuously getting his third or fourth choice as a coordinator.” Ryan also asserted that Beamer hasn’t elevated the Gamecocks in the way Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has for the Tigers.
While Beamer clearly took issue with the host’s claim, the passionate coach, like Swinney, will enter the 2023 season hoping his offense will be renewed with the arrival of a new offensive coordinator.
The Gamecocks finished the 2022 campaign with an 8–5 record, and ranked No. 23 in the final AP Top 25 poll. The offense will once again be led next season by quarterback Spencer Rattler, who recorded 3,012 yards passing, 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his first year with the program after transferring from Oklahoma.
