South Carolina Football: Shane Beamer throws shade at former assistant, gets in spat with media member

For better or for worse, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer has always spoken his mind.

Sometimes, Beamer's openness with the press and prominent presence on social media has paid dividends for him and his Gamecock program. Recruits tend to love the Carolina headman's honesty and love that he is so active online. He earns the South Carolina football team a lot of exposure that way.

Other times, Beamer has been criticized for the way he talks to the media and the way he handles himself online. Admitting to breaking his foot with a loss-fueled rage kick last season was one such example.

On Friday, during his media availability, Beamer took the podium and took aim at a former assistant coach. James Coley, who was hired less than 60 days ago as the team's wide receivers coach, left for the Georgia Bulldogs last week, and Beamer had some things to say during his press conference. Referencing what he called Coley "violating" his contract, Beamer said they used the buyout money from Coley leaving to get "an even better wide receivers coach" in Mike Furrey.

The annoyance in Beamer's voice was noticeable, and the shade thrown Coley's way was obvious. However, that wasn't the last time on Friday that the South Carolina football coach made waves with his words. Later in the day, it was his digital words that made news.

After a tweet from long-time South Carolina reporter Phil Kornblut seemed to suggest that Beamer wasn't happy with his young wide receivers, he responded to Kornblut harshly for what he deemed a misquote and a misrepresentation of his words.

The exchange can be seen below:

Kornblut issued a half-hearted apology on Twitter/X later in the day by saying he missed a word (presumably "development") in his original post about Beamer's wide receiver comments. He denied that he intended to cause any trouble or "insinuate" anything, however.