South Carolina football: Shane Beamer takes jab at former OC Mike Bobo

The South Carolina football coach isn’t happy with how his OC left the program.

South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer opted to retain offensive coordinator Mike Bobo when hiring his initial staff in Columbia, despite Bobo being a holdover from the Will Muschamp regime. Bobo had served as interim head coach following Muschamp’s firing, and helped devise an offensive attack that saw sophomore Kevin Harris take home the SEC’s regular season rushing crown, the first Gamecock player to achieve the feat.

Beamer believed that Bobo deserved a chance to build upon the 2019 season, his first with the Gamecocks, extending a deal worth $1.2 million to keep the coordinator of staff. After all, it was a COVID year that saw a number of wide receivers opt out of the year during the offseason, as well as having perceived starting running back MarShawn Lloyd suffer an ACL tear prior to the season’s start.

Beamer even gave Bobo a pass on his foolish reluctance to remove transfer quarterback Collin Hill from the starting lineup amid midseason struggles. One instance, in particular, sticks out, going back the the Texas A&M matchup, where Hill was still taking first-team snaps with the Gamecocks trailing 41-0 in the fourth quarter. Still, Beamer was open to offering the play caller a second chance.

But just two days after signing his new contract to remain on the South Carolina sidelines, Bobo bolted for Auburn, where he’ll now call plays for Bryan Harsin and the SEC rival Tigers.

Beamer has since hired Marcus Satterfield, an assistant from the Carolina Panthers’ staff in 2020, to take over in the offensive coordinator role, but his disdain for Bobo’s exit may not be completely out of his system.

The new head coach was asked about Bobo’s departure in a press conference introducing some members of the new staff, and Beamer was anything but complimentary.

Beamer stops short of saying “I have nothing but the utmost respect” for Auburn’s new staff member, instead replying, “we wish him well.”

Bobo’s actions were a bit hypocritical considering his message to last year’s team was one of loyalty and playing for the teammate beside you. That message may not resonate quite as well now that it appears Bobo is jumping ship for a pay raise after just a single season.

Beamer, though, has stayed true to his word, saying that he wants coaches that want to be at South Carolina.

"“I want guys that want to be here. Not just going out to hire [someone] that has a fancy name or because he’s coached in the SEC for 20 years. There are plenty of examples of that where it hasn’t worked out a lot here recently.”"

Beamer’s new offensive coordinator, Marcus Satterfield, went a little deeper on this notion, also seeming to take a shot at Bobo by mentioning the staff was no longer full of SEC “retreads” or “an offensive coordinator at the tail end of his career.”

There’s obviously some bad blood for how things ended between Beamer and Bobo, and it will be interesting to see whether this carries over into next year. South Carolina and Auburn are set to meet in Williams-Brice Stadium for a second consecutive season. The Gamecocks defeated the Tigers 30-22 in 2020.