South Carolina Football: Shane Beamer responds to speculation about Mississippi State job

South Carolina Football coach Shane Beamer was listed by 247Sports as a lead candidate for the recently opened Mississippi State Bulldogs job. Beamer, who is in the first year of a new contract extension with USC that runs through 2027, was once an assistant coach at State and met his wife Emily while with the Bulldogs.

However, most who saw Beamer’s name floated knew that it was a longshot (at best) that the South Carolina football headman would leave Columbia for Starkville.

In addition to his contract extension and the near-$20 Million buyout attached to it, Beamer has repeatedly said that the South Carolina football job was his dream job. After all, he chose the Gamecocks over his alma mater (and home to his father’s legendary coaching career) Virginia Tech when he took the job back in December of 2020.

Naturally, with the speculation arising on Monday, Beamer was asked about Mississippi State football during his Tuesday media availability.

The South Carolina football coach acknowledged that the connections between him and the Bulldog program exist (his wife, his friendship with AD Zac Selmon, his previous experience in Starkville, etc.), but reiterated that when he says the Gamecock job is his dream job, “I still feel that way…I want to be here for a long time…we’re just getting started here.”

Beamer also commented that, as a current coach “who doesn’t want to get fired,” he doesn’t love the current landscape of the coaching carousel. He did mention that offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, an Arkansas alum who previously coached for the Razorbacks, is very happy at Carolina. He did not go as far as to say that Loggains was uninterested in the open OC gig in Fayetteville.

With two more weeks remaining in the college football season, there will be more coaching movement, and the Gamecocks are probably going to be involved in some way. Defensive coordinator Clayton White likely won’t be retained, and a few other South Carolina football assistants are candidates to change jobs one way or another.

Shane Beamer, though, isn’t going anywhere.